It may seem hopeless, but we have to continue to hold back the tide of fascism with all our might. This letter is self-explanatory, and I think its staid legal argument brings out the absurdity of deeming me a terrorist danger to the UK.
I honestly believe that I am fighting not for myself – my life is turned upside down – but for important principles. For freedom of speech and the right of the public to information, as exemplified in the case of Julian Assange. For universal human rights, as exemplified by the struggle of the Palestinians. For the right of citizen journalists to write without persecution, as exemplified by my own case and others. I am afraid this all costs money. I am grateful for the unfailing generosity of people in what is a continuing struggle.
But I do very much need contributions to the defence fund:
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Good luck getting a sensible answer :/
I might be naive but I still hope there are honest and level headed persons in Police Scotland and this will be quickly resolved.
I get the feeling the orders to continue harassing Craig are coming from somewhere else much higher than Police Scotland.
I would hope that some in Police Scotland see through these sinister developments.
will Police Scotland care? seems like they are at least somewhat corrupted.
Good luck, Craig.
Most decent, law-abiding citizens are behind you and abhor what’s taking place in our country.
We’ll very eagerly crowd-fund any action you undertake.
And yet Mr Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) walks around after calling his “Football Lads Alliance” to arms yet again. To quote Wee Scribbles “Yer da’ guards Statues”.
And funnily enough Robinson over the last decade has been funded by various right wing individuals and think tanks and organizations, many of which just so happened to have been set or are staffed up by Zionists. Of course they used him to stir things up today.
Realistically Mr Tommy has had his day, and going by the absolute shower that turned out to ‘Counter Protest’ there should be quite a bit of blowback against all the so called politicians who attempted to build up today’s protest as some abuse of Britishness.
I’ll place a bet that Sooellaaa will be gone by teatime on Monday. 🙂
It’ll also be interesting to see how the Mail spins it all after their ‘Come for Suella, and you come for us all” front page ? That must surely rank up there with their ‘Hurrah for the Blackshirts’ headline of yesteryear.
Nah, I think them calling the liar, charlatan, incompetent, adulterer and thief Alexander etc Johnson. “Honest, brave, popular etc”.
Actually counts as much worse. After all Mosley and his gang were relatively harmless, insofar as they didn’t deliberately/negligently kill tens of thousands of people and embezzle the treasury whilst in between drinking binges.
Furthermore Mosley had a much more distinguished record as a parliamentarian, before he went off the deep end.
Johnson was a known fraud and plagiarist, since his days as a “journalist”. He even got sacked for it. Which takes a lot of doing on fleet street.
It is our client’s well-founded belief that *as* one of the….whistleblower*s*
Good letter but it needs proof-reading.
Well spotted, Ronny – I picked that one up as well. I think that our host should ask for a few quid to be knocked off his fee. I agree it’s a good letter, and they should be commended for finding the details set out in Polis Scotland’s Code of Practice, but if you’re paying £150+ an hour or whatever, you can reasonably expect any such missives to be flawless. Anyway, at least they didn’t refer to our host as ‘Mr Murray Esq.’ like the other lot did – so there is that.
I also noticed the letter has not been signed by the solicitor but pp’d by an unrecognisable signature. In a letter of such import, I would have expected the head of the firm to personally sign it. A small point but if I was the
recedingreceiving officer I would suspect that the firm is not fully behind Mr Murray.Bob Smith, as I have no doubt the security services were recording the numerous phone calls between Aamer and myself on the drafting of the letter, they won’t think that at all!
Thanks for clarifying Craig and apologies for the typo: “receding” should read “receiving”! Best of luck, and another donation on its way.
Good point Bob, although I don’t think Chief Constable Jo Farrell can legitimately be described as a ‘receding officer’ – Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley on the other hand…
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/08/mark-rowley-appointed-new-commissioner-of-the-metropolitan-police
I picked up on that omission as well.
Sloppy paperwork and from a solicitor as well.
Further to my post.
The letter was signed for and on behalf of the solicitor (pp).
Perhaps a paralegal’s head has to roll (metaphorically speaking of course)?
Thank heavens for people like Solicitor Anwar – and good luck, Craig.
Also they got your bank details – that’s potentially very dangerous for you given that that someone has tried to plant a statement via twitter that you did not make. Your account is now wide open to abuse. Please take care!
As with the cases of Nigel Farage, Graham Phillips and Katie Hopkins, to name three. They don’t need to collect your bank details, they are not a secret, they already have them. The banks are part of the establishment, so any of us could be closed down at any time if TPTB decide.
Whatever the outcome state power will dominate. Once they would get hold of Mr. Murray in person they could do with him almost whatever they wish, e.g. lock him up for many years, if that´s what the authorities choose to do.
If there´s a lesson that I learned from reading this blog it´s this one:
In Europe today state power is the supreme force and reigns over the fundamental human rights enshrined in what we teach our kids as democracy.
As for now I assume Germany is still a safer place than GB or France. Unless one is of interest to the US. But that´s not the case here I hope.
And I see no reason why this constitutional crisis should be resolved. It´s rather the beginning of a long struggle now erupting.
I am waiting for the mechanisms revealed via the Twitter Files to get a foothold in Europe and so US and EU authorities may join forces to subjugate public opinion in most of the West.
After all this is not about protecting us, it´s about fighting China and its Allies. Thus the home front either obeys or is forced into obedience.
Tlaib and Corbyn are so far only subject to censorship of their speech because they are most prominent politicians.
So either Mr. Murray may return to GB and keep quiet or he carries on to stir up the public and thus will be at constant risk.
In that regard Braverman and Cleverly are oddly twisted telling names. (for my foreign German ears.)
” Unless one is of interest to the US. But that´s not the case here I hope.”
Mr Murray was a whilstleblower against the UKs involvement in the US programme of rendition and torture.
Mr Murray supports Julian Assange who is wanted by the US.
Mr Murray supports the rights of Palestinians which is problematic for the zionist leaning US Government.
I suspect Mr Murray is of interest to the US, don’t you ?
Just assumed that the “target” sign on Mr. Murray´s back is not as large as the one pinned on Assange.
The question is in how far does Mr. Murray´s public action threaten US interests?
Also in comparison to other activists.
And I don´t see that level of danger to their politics.
Nowhere in Europe is currently a safe haven if one is suspected of sympathy with the Palestinian cause – certainly not Germany. Turkey might conceivably offer some sort of asylum, but governments change complexions and allegiances, and renege on the protections they offer, as Craig’s friend Julian found to his cost. For this reason even left-leaning third world countries like Brazil are also insecure. The world as it is at the moment is dominated by the USA, a hub of paranoid corporate power which regards Israel as an asset to be protected at all costs and in spite of anything it might do. If China, with its immense population and industrial power offers some sort of counterweight, it too is hardly a desirable destination. The world exists in a state of flux, and unfortunately the enemies of truth, freedom and justice seem to be calling the shots.
Europe would, in theory, have the power to withstand the suppression. And they better should in the long-run for their own sake (see sanctions/NS1&2 / UKR). But since the elites in the West are one body, that acumen is sabotaged by the Europeans themselves. It’s a class war. So some of this we already have witnessed.
What a cracking letter! Get out of that one, Chief Constable.
Craig is quite right to fight against his persecution by the Thought Police.
Here’s an encouraging story of a journalist fighting back against the bastards.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/11/judge-wrong-to-allow-met-to-seize-journalists-material-high-court-rules
Y’see? The little guy can win!
I’m pretty right wing, Craig, and I would disagree with you — and probably nearly all of the contributors here — on most political issues, with the exception of Scottish independence. But I absolutely endorse your statement that you are fighting for important principles. The rights of free speech, freedom of assembly and of dissent from the government line were hard-won over generations and absolutely have to be fought for by each new generation. I wish people would stop being so shocked when stuff like this happens. This is what governments do, and it’s not something that stopped fifty or a hundred years ago “when things were different”. Things were never different, because people today are exactly the same as they were throughout history, and the current generation were not born knowing things nobody before them knew. Governments of the past always had what they claimed were good reasons for infringing people’s freedom, just like governments today, and that holds true on the left every bit as much as the right, perhaps even more so, since leftists generally just take themselves as the standard of good. People need to wake up to themselves and ditch the chronological snobbery.
I’m not right wing and I find that I disagree with you on most political issues, but I think your comment hits the nail squarely on the head, especially this “I wish people would stop being so shocked when stuff like this happens. This is what governments do, …”. Governments are ruthless, they have to be.
An apologist for the government. Are you sure you’re not right wing?
dean, your command of English is somewhat lacking if you think my comment denotes me an apologist for the government.
It is indeed absurd to deem you a terrorist danger to the UK, Craig. That’s a good letter and the questions at the end are all valid, but they will just say they can’t answer any of them, due to ‘national security’.
That’s how it goes – they can demand any/all of your personal information/belongings/contacts etc, while they themselves operate in total secrecy, all because ‘national security’. The recent bills they sneaked through have only strengthened their grip on power and control over the masses.
It seems almost funny to be witnessing what’s happening now, it’s so surreal. Orwell and Kafka described it so well, all those years ago. Even then (and earlier) it was happening, but maybe fewer people could see it.
Once the state gets too much power, it doesn’t give any back. It only accrues more, makes more laws, more punishments – all in the name of the greater good, i.e. national security.
While large protests against the bombing of civilians are ignored by the BBC, they showed over an hour of the ‘Lord Mayor Of London’s Show’ this morning. Poppies on full display by the procession. Remembrance was supposed to be about quiet reflection and respect for the fallen, not marching bands banging drums and playing flutes, followed by the army parading through the streets. It didn’t feel like a celebration. It felt like the State flexing its muscles.
didn’t see it but the US changed its name to veterans’ day, to make it a celebration of war rather than a remembrance of its cost. I assume that is where our leaders are taking their cues from.
Saturday night in Cebu, eight hours ahead of most of you, and after a healthy absorption of San Miguel ale I cannot resist the urge to open my heart and unfold my feelings about the current world situation. I will try not to descend into a sermon. Or OT?
I am in my 80th year. I was born in the dying year of the Second World War. By the time I was aware of my surroundings in the 1950s, I found myself in a desperately poor family in Wales, but through that decade everyone was optimistic, living conditions were improving, a washing machine, a television for the coronation, and by 1960 a brand new Austin. In those days it was accepted that public utilities would be publicly owned. Life was getting better. The Conservative Party then was far to the left of the miserable residue of today’s Labour Party.
What happened? Well the drift to the right began with Thatcher and now it is unstoppable it seems.
So life went on through the decades and I became politically involved, with the PSC and most notably when Corbyn became Labour leader, I joined and hoped to see a new direction for the country. What happened next with the smearing was a total awakening for me. Finally I realised how the world worked, that the U.K. is not an independent country and indeed now we see that the entire west is unsavable. And the attitudes of Labour and Conservative to the situation in Gaza are just unbelievable. The U.K. is now a basket case and I decided to abandon it for a more hospitable environment.
I mentioned the PSC and of course the current situation in Gaza is, well, words fail me. I gave you a link to a film I made about Palestine a few days back; it got about 30 views. I hope you stuck with it to the end. The young children you saw there enjoying dinner and fairground rides, we do not know if they are still alive? How can this be happening in the 21st century?
Well, what I want to say to Craig which I have said before and wish to propose to the rest of the readership is, get out, get out, now before the U.K. becomes a full police state. You know it is heading in that way. While resident in China, which does not give me full residence rights, I obtained rights in the Philippines, quite cheap. But now Marcos has abandoned his electoral promises and pivoted to the USA, Malaysia looks a better bet; they have good expat settlement systems, which interestingly are available to citizens of the entire world except for … Israel. Yes, it’s an admirable country.
Well, I hope you get the picture. And I should add that the cost of living there is minuscule.
Today I’m am expecting to learn of a massive demonstration in London, hopefully a million at least. Well, come on, I would be there if I could.
Well, I guess that’s enough for now. Another Red Horse please, Bianca.
You are not alone Walt. I am 10 years younger and understand every word you wrote. Like you, I live outwith the UK so have little fear of retribution at my age. But my grandchildren all live in UK.
Good suggestion for Craig Murray: Malaysia or any other Islamic state. Firmly anti-Israel and real open societies with free speech etc. You can say anything about everything except ………fill in the blanks………: just ask Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasrin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Theo van Gogh etc.
The West has turned more authoritarian for sure but are way behind the many Islamic nations or the CCP-run PRC.
2 years ago you wouldnt even bother mentioning the West being as shitty as the PRC, now you sound like a beggar for people to take the less ‘evil’ side. Sad, have you any experience living in those places you choose to demonize so much? Or is it all the articles written by your state that have convinced you of the evil? And you willingly choose to be their mouthpiece? It appears we have reached the stage of pointing at others downsides to make ourselves look better, you would sound saner if you avoid the comparisons altogether. You’re welcome.
Good luck with that one Craig. I imagine some nonsense about ‘official secrets’ or ‘national security’ will be used to fob you off. The process is the punishment, they do it because they can.
Today´s news item on Armistice Day in Berliner Zeitung corresponds with about 90% of what GB still is in German public view:
A benign, decent democratic state – the cradle of democracy in fact – with hooligans being the biggest issue of all.
https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/news/england-bis-zum-tod-zusammenstoesse-in-london-vor-palaestina-protest-am-jahrestag-des-waffenstillstands-li.2157833
While right-wing nationalists tried to get to the monument, singing „England till I die“ (this is important: In German reports anything Englishmen do in bigger crowds is accompanied by singing which makes it appear very cultivated and not to be taken too seriously) – police (had no choice is being suggested between the lines) used batons to stop them.
The protesters were protesting against the pro-Palestine demonstration which, at least this info comes across, with 500,000 expected could turn out one of the biggest protests in British history.
And eventually my favourite quote: “”The laws created by Parliament are clear,” Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan Police Service in London, said in a statement on Tuesday evening. “There is no absolute power to ban protests, so there will be protests this weekend.”
So frankly I don´t understand Mr. Murray´s concerns. All´s well in England.
AG,
” So frankly I don´t understand Mr. Murray´s concerns. All´s well in England.”
If you had been imprisoned in a fabricated contempt charge/conviction – now find yourself with your electronic devices seized by the police and not being accused of any specific crime – which is Murray’s situation – “all is well”?
With rationality applied – wouldn’t you have good reason for concern?
It might be due to my badly-written post – naturally I was being sarcastic.
This entire affair, the state chastising Mr. Murray, denouncing him, locking him up, this lack of elementary respect and decency, considering that he is in fact sacrificing a lot for the greater good (in complete contrast to those egotistical opportunists) – I find all that appalling. Actually it makes your blood boil considering all the asshole careerists betraying everything worth living.
Since I often draw comparisons to motion pictures – I sometimes have to think of the ending of “Official Secrets” about the whistleblowing case of Katharine Gun and how she was simply used by that prosecutor Ken Macdonald to set an example and scare others. Without words. And Gun´s lawyer Ben Emmerson – in the fiction at least – just ends his friendship with him.
“the cradle of democracy in fact”
Where do you get that codswallop from, school? The BBC?
That’s a nasty abuse of process all right.
It isn’t clear from the solicitor’s letter whether CM’s laptop is also being withheld?
Re provision of a password, Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/schedule/7 doesn’t address the issue directly?
If politicians can rely on faulty memory when accused of crimes – and famously a bitcoin owner faces the loss of millions as he can’t recall his password – are there precedents of Ukanian courts convicting people who assert that they don’t recall their password?
I doubt whether there are any UK precedents, JK, but I’d imagine that, in such circumstances, a magistrate would say that it wasn’t reasonable to believe that a defendant couldn’t recall passwords for devices that he or she had taken on a foreign trip, and thus would convict under Schedule 7, which could result in a sentence of up to three months in clink and a £2500 fine.
Lapsed Agnostic
Thanks for that.
I think that people in CM’s exposed position might usefully consider using cheap ‘burner’ phones when travelling to and from Ukania and buy a cheap Chromebook or similar for use when away and upload any work developed while away in encrypted form to a secure server.
And then wipe the Chromebook before travelling.
All a bit of a pain but…
Entering Ukania with a laptop if in an exposed position is perhaps naive?
I hope that CM’s laptop contained nothing but scenic photos of the Icelandic countryside….
Thanks for your reply JK. That’s a good idea, although it would probably be cheaper to just buy a new laptop hard drive, rather than a new laptop – if a bit more fiddly. However, in the wake of his ill-advised ‘Hamas & Hezbollah’ tweet, I’m not sure that coming back to the UK anytime soon would be a very good idea. Despite his Celtic ancestors throwing offerings into Swiss lakes 3000 years ago, as our host reminds us, he can’t claim Switzerland – but fortunately, he should still be able to claim political asylum in Switzerland when his tourist visa runs out in a couple months:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2023/10/zionism-is-bullshit-2/
“although it would probably be cheaper to just buy a new laptop hard drive, rather than a new laptop – if a bit more fiddly.”
That would depend on the make of laptop. With some Lenovos, all you have to do is undo one screw and pull the hard drive out.
I have seen a few convictions over the years for failing to provide a password so it does happen. It is usually lumped in with other charges though. I would be screwed as I forget mine more often than I remember it, my log-ins usually consist of password resets.
Please look after yourself and your financial resources. I have no doubt this is ongoing harassment in the hope that all your energies and resources will be consumed in relentless, never-ending legal challenges. It is standard practice for many demagogic and dictatorial states.
How far the UK has fallen in 13 years of the most inept, but also highly destructive, Tory rule. The removal of most protections around free speech, assembly and political action has traduced the liberal tradition which largely held sway since WW2.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they ignore your legal requests or issue some kind of bland, cover up piece of verbiage. They simply don’t care about legal requirements or obligations, consider themselves above the law, and will not hesitate to attack their political enemies in the most covert, illegal and nasty ways. It is genuinely alarming how quickly the UK has been subverted by unsavoury, unprincipled and very determined undemocratic, right-wing manipulators and their useful fools and idiots.
On the bright side – an incredibly impressive march today, which even the police had to admit was 300,000 – so it probably means nearer 500,000. And despite all the attempts to ban it or provoke violence, the most the government and their media allies could manage was an almost laughable attempt by right-wing drunks to ‘protect’ the cenotaph, and in doing so, disfiguring the armistice march. Which tells its own story, although no doubt the gutter press will have been searching high and low for one banner or placard with which to condemn half a million people. So heartening to see so many caring people together with no hint of malice or violence, just shock and grief.
Update, it has been reported that 12 people were arrested on the Gaza march, out of 300,000 (at least), whereas about 100 yobs from a relatively tiny ragbag collection of right-wing nutters armed with weapons and drugs, seeking confrontation, were arrested.
Daily Mail. Times, Telegraph, Braverman, Farage, Sunak and co – your boys took a hell of a beating.
Meanwhile, Israeli snipers are shooting anybody moving around hospitals. A Gaza doctor interviewed on Al Jazeera said that in 16 years there he never witnessed any Hamas operatives, and it was absurd to claim that they had a secret underground HQ which no hospital worker ever knew about, or witnessed. It is pure fiction. When will the media demand evidence from these cowardly Israeli liars who dominate the media?
They don’t need to bother paying the gutter press, Ian, when people like Harry’s Place will do it for them for free:
https://nitter.net/hurryupharry
I must not have even *thought* about Harry’s Place for well over a decade (for which relief much thanks) but, after recent events, decided to dip into his blog a couple weeks ago. **** me, it was worse than ever (and the comments section was full-on Great Replacement Theory etc) – the ‘Decent Left’, ladies & gents, the ‘Decent Left’.
Someone else was frantically searching..
Only 500,000? If you’re going to make up the numbers, why not a round million?
Incidentally, how do you square today’s marches with your statement that most protections around free speech, assembly and political action have been removed?
You do realise there was no serious attempt to “ban” the marches?
Craig Murray is undoubtedly suffering some heavy handed treatment from the British state right now. Your over-the-top fabrications don’t help to gather supporters to his cause.
There was in fact a lot of political pressure to ban the march, as we have heard, on the pretext of its ‘hate’ nature. Amazingly, and gratefully, the police stood firm, as did more enlightened, if a threatened species, of tory mp’s. No doubt Braverman was hoping to incite violence, and indeed she fired up the Robinson to try, and had that happened would have banned further marches. Just because it wasn’t banned doesn’t mean there is a significant part of the establishment which would do so. And the point of course is that this government have passed legislation in order to assist that cause. Do pay attention.
The police always underestimate numbers (300,000). Organisers may optimistically inflate theirs (800,00). But 500,000 is a good mean between both claims, and had you been there you would have realised the extraordinary amount of people, mostly families btw. But carry on sneering, it suits your level of argument.
The police figure of 300,000 is risible. In a BBC News report Rowley is seen quoting a figure of “300,000-400,000 or even more”.
Hyde Park was rammed, as were the roads from Park Lane all the way down to Vauxhall. People were still marching into Vauxhall when I was leaving at around 4.30pm.
The Organisation’s figure of 800,000 is entirely believable and the actual figure quite possibly even greater.
I agree, I meant upwards of 500,000. The turnout was very impressive and overwhelmingly peaceful and supportive – not something the armchair experts and fearmongers like Braverman can comprehend. She must be gutted that it was so well attended, peaceful and her plan to create trouble in order to ban it was thwarted. Amazingly she is trying to double down with her false claims of hate even after her widely reviled attempts at fomenting violence.
Sounds to me like another possible fit up, in the hope that they can con their way to putting you back into Saughton Prison for a long time.
Dear Craig,
I’ll support you as much as I can, which is less than I’d like.
Unfortunately I can’t help but feel we (by which I mean those not in service to the ruling psychopaths) are headed for a showdown many of us thought could not happen in our lifetimes.
Great Points M10.
It seems we’re Tumbling down that Slope..and the Masses are Mostly blind to it.
I read may years ago, that the Sociopaths in London have been Preparing for just that for years…Which begs the Question – What force are they prepared to use on the people ?
Generous of you to say so Brian, as that thought was dashed off in haste.
I saw the image of UK Prime Ministers standing at the Cenotaph for Remembrance.
It struck me they resembled a tired, drawn-faced line of vampires and zombies, not world leaders in charge and with a positive plan.
It would be comforting to think they were reflecting on their collective failure of the peoples of this island, a sort of “How has it come to this?” (but not in a Daily Mail way).
However I doubt it.
There may be a great deal of ruin in a nation, but not an infinite amount.
Hard not to be pessimistic, frankly, so I’m grateful to Craig and yourself and many of those who comment here for keeping the flame.
And for my part, to answer your question, I believe the sociopaths have barely got started.
Great Letter By your Legal Team Craig..
at Question 4. ‘ Who instructed your officers to investigate Mr Murray.
I have been wanting to Know the answer to this Question since the Detainment .. Not the Why..But Who Ordered it.
Nasty Nasty.
Incidents Like this made me Wonder today if one or more of the Dudes Wandering around with Cameras -at a 60 or so People gathering in Greenock in Protest at the Gaza Genocide – Were wee Police Spies.. Shocking that we now sometimes think that way
I had My Big Palestine Flag that I hold high on AUOB marches. and the keffiyeh on my head.. Biker style..as I have done so for many years. Since first reading Norman Finkelstein’s work.
Stay Strong Craig.
Seems likely you’re in trouble based on an absurdly literal interpretation of the anti-terror legislation’s definition of ‘support’. from that single tweet.
Logically, you’d think for something to qualify as ‘support’ multiple extraneous factors would also need to be met; such as repeated contact with said organisation(s), financial backing; or promoting or disseminating of said organisation’s material. But, as with the arrest of the two girls over their ‘poor taste’ pictures of paragliders, the threshold has seemingly become incredibly low. Borderline ‘thought crime’ low.
Were someone to say : I support X and Y.
With X and Y being proscribed organisations. In my opinion, no five word sentence merits a 10 year jail sentence. Such penalties are the stuff of authoritarian hellhole countries, countries we used to mock.
In 2015, Green party policy stated that “it should not be a crime simply to belong to an organisation or have sympathy with its aims, though it should be a crime to aid and abet criminal acts or deliberately fund such acts”.
That seems like a sensible position to me. Natalie Bennett, the then Greens’ leader, took loads of flak over their position in an interview with right-winger Andrew Neil. But the law as interpreted now, is suffocating freedom of opinion, and being used vindictively, whist not really protecting society.
The maximum sentence for falling foul of Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 is now 14 years, Goose. Sorry, I can’t say any more as my ‘wacking on about it’ upsets will moon, and the last thing I want to do is upset anybody on here. All of which reminds me: for those that don’t know, the journalist James Doleman died of cancer a couple weeks ago and, even though he was partially responsible for our host ending up in clink (if inadvertently), as it’s the Sabbath*, I would encourage the religiously inclined on here to pray for the repose of his soul – not least because, when he was still with us, he claimed to ‘pray for the comments section’, despite most of us probably being beyond redemption.
By the way, we in Britain used to mock East Germany for being obsessed with winning Olympic medals in an attempt to distract people from the shit-ness of having to live there – but look at us now.
* I was in the Proddy Church this morning – yes I was. I don’t tend to make a habit of it.
On 26 February 2022, the Brussels-based journalist Martin Banks was stopped and detained by the United Kingdom Border Force at the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais, for interrogation under Schedule 3 Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019.
Banks was about to cross the Channel for a holiday with his family, when he was stopped, taken to a small room in the Calais station, where he was read his rights by an examining officer. His repeated questions about the nature of the suspicions remained unanswered. Banks declined an invitation for legal representation, as he said the reason why he needed one remained unclear. The police forced Banks to hand over his computer, phones and passwords for examination. For six hours, he was questioned, mainly on his journalistic work about the COVID-19 pandemic, Ukraine and the Russian Federation, but also about items collected from his car: a two-year old issue of the New York Times, dozens of articles printed from the internet, and personal notes. Banks was also questioned about the UK-based communications company he works for, how it is financed, its “political policy”, as well as about his colleagues. The officers further asked Banks how he thought his reporting might “influence” policy and opinion makers, about his personal finances and about when he and his family next planned to visit the United Kingdom. During the interrogation, the journalist was taken to another part of the station, where another officer took his DNA, photographs, and biometric fingerprints.
Banks was released after six hours, the maximum legal period under the legislation, and told he would not be arrested or charged. The police apologised for the incident, but did not disclose the reason for the interrogation, besides reciting the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 and their power to stop under the legislation. The examining officer kept items taken from his car, such as his laptop, two mobile phones, DVDs containing family photos, and a memory card for his camera. On 3 March, Banks was informed he could recollect the his items, which he did on 6 March, when returning to Belgium. He was NOT charged with any offence
You have not been charged with any offence likewise and are making a drama out of it to make money
Wow, a good example of illegal data collection and profiling. Which will be uploaded for access by numerous authorities, border agents and police/security services.
jock – yes – this puts Nazi Germany in a whole new light. A gestapo interrogation is wholly OK provided the victim isn’t charged with anything …..
Becoming routine for all journos who operate outside the mainstream media. As if a standardised fishing expedition.
They’ve got this new foreign agents law, and there’s been so much (unjustified) hype, about foreign interference following the Russiagate hoax in the States. Probably someone desperate to find some journo who qualifies as an undeclared agent? Kit Klarenberg similarly got stopped, he of the Grayzone. Paul Mason has long alleged that publication is a front for the Kremlin, without providing a scintilla of evidence, bar his own wild imagination. Half expecting him to tweet a claim that the pro-Palestine protests are a result of some sophisticated Russia/Iran influence op. He really does come up with some absurd theories linking unconnected, disparate individuals & groups.
I find that incomprehensible. You relate the appalling treatment of Mr Banks, and then conclude that makes the not quite so appalling treatment of me OK.
You fail to note that, unlike your account of Mr Banks, I have been informed that while I have not been charged so far, I am subject to a continuing investigation.
Finally I am not sure if you realise lawyers do not work for free. I am certainly not making money, quite the opposite.
Your conclusion is somewhat muddle-headed, Jock.
Shalom, Craig.
The irony of there being strong prima facie evidence that the police have broken the law.
When you travel, have two phones.
Carry one (clean) when traveling, mail the other to the destination if needed. OR; Most phones have a removable memory card slot. Place all data on it and remove when travelling. Copy it and leave one at home, mail the other to destination (encrypt before sending).
Fill your second (clean) phone with as much random data as possible. I have a 25GB folder of collected random webpages from back around 2010. Let them scour that for days if they take it.
GCHQ has various taps into major internet cables around the world including the UK, they trawl and process all traffic 24/7/365 with their supercomputers. I doubt 25GB of junk is going to cause any difficulties.
BTW, the mail processing system is automated. All suspect mail is intercepted. Lockheed Martin has this contract.
Also, note that the section 7 powers is not specific to border crossings, I believe they could just as easily, and legally, rock up at your home and take you and your IT stuff away.
We now live in a police state, if they have an interest in you, you will have problems.
how many toddlers and grandmothers today?
the whole country is equally upside down, at least the political part of it. the BBC is currently screening with solemn reverence all the ghouls of the British establishment up in Whitehall intoning ‘lest we forget’ and ‘never again’. they know this is a group who en masse have been supporting the starvation and blowing up of toddlers and grandmothers every day for the last month! the BBC would consider it an outrageous slur if these people, ‘the Great and the Good’, were described as terrorist supporters. that is the country we are living in.
Callous Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps, has just compared the bombing of Gaza to that of Dresden in WW2, 35,000 perished in Dresden. He wasn’t being critical of Israel, he was trying to justify what they are doing! Many war historians view firebombing Dresden as a war crime, and wholly unnecessary. Shapps was making the point winning a war involves civilian deaths. Outrageous.
An ex-leader of his own party, David Cameron, described Gaza as a “prison camp” on a visit there. Utterly sick for a UK Defence secretary to compare the trapped people of Gaza to Nazi Germany. Laura Kuenssberg let him get away with it. Both are Jewish, and known to be big supporters of Israel.
has Cameron said anything about what’s being done to the prison camp ever at any time over the last month – with British bombs? i saw him there at the Cenotaph earlier with the rest of the never againers. he looked very sombre.
Shapps is better at bullying interns into suicide than speaking or acting rationally. If there was a draft he would be one of the first to dodge it. He should be in prison along with the rest of the UK Government.
Let’s face it. Anyone who had three other different identities or aliases : Michael Green, Sebastian Fox and Corinne Stockheath, and sketchy ‘get-rich-quick’ internet businesses, before coming into politics. Shouldn’t have been appointed as Secretary of State for Defence. Not a Department where there are so many procurement decisions made.
And how his Jewish faith affects his decision making is concerning too, given there’s so much talk of attacking Israel’s arch-nemesis, Iran. We’ve seen Priti Patel fired as Home Secretary for 14 unofficial meetings with Israeli ministers, businesspeople and a senior lobbyist. What are MI6 doing to prevent this obvious source of interference?
if they replaced Shapps it would only be with someone every bit as pro genocide as the rest of them. would certainly not need to be Jewish either, the vast majority of them are not.
The whole cabinet are an appalling bunch.
Sunak seemed starstruck in his recent one to one chat with Elon Musk. It looked more like a post-politics job interview. I wouldn’t be surprised at all, if upon losing the election, he doesn’t plan on ‘doing a Clegg’ by ending up in the United States.
Rishi Sunak admitted to holding a green card while living in Downing Street – declaring him a permanent resident of the US. There has still not been an adequate explanation either, as to why Sunak kept his US green card for six years while an MP, including 19 months as chancellor. The US State department spokesperson couldn’t explain either, telling reporters they’d look into it. Only later, to simply say such matters are covered by national security.
My impression, which may be totally wrong, is that Remembrance/Armistice Day has been totally hijacked by the political classes. It is no longer about a solemn and respectful remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice but more about virtue signalling with soviet style military parades. We have the MSM (Daily Mail, BBC, GB News, etc) beating the war drums for ‘our boys’ with stories about bomber command and Churchill scattered about amongst the dead. All of those disgusting shits in parliament who voted against a ceasefire in Palestine will be out marching with their Poppies to show they care. And the mindless masses are out in force to support them in their hypocrisy.
I find it quite disgusting, is this what the dead gave their lives for ?
this year is different. this time they are out there despite everyone knowing they are openly supporting the genocide of women, babies, toddlers, grandparents and great-grandparents. the BBC lot commenting on them know that just as well as everyone watching.
I think you’ve put your finger on something. It’s their guilt that defiles the Cenotaph. And they can’t bear being reminded of it. (You might say “They don’t like it up ’em.”) The fact that a march in protest against the genocide they’re supporting took place on the same day, a mile or so away in space and a couple of hours away in time, was an unbearable reminder of their guilt. This explains the storm of phoney hysterical outrage over a non-existent threat and a non-existent disrespect. It wasn’t merely opportunism on the part of the poisonous Braverman, or typical idiocy and bigotry on the part of a gang of right-wing thugs. It had powerful emotional roots. Normally, such guilt is mentally processed in private and kept hidden, but when it’s an open secret, as you’ve pointed out, and it’s publicly exposed by a large demonstration so close at hand, there had to be some kind of public display to distract attention from it. It’s a kind of collective mental defence mechanism.
Genocide has a particular meaning. What’s happening in Gaza is not genocide.
Israel has stated they will cease fire if the hostages are released. I believe them.
You need to look up the clear meaning of genocide, as laid down in the Genocide Convention, written by Jewish lawyer and activist Raphael Lemkin. It is obvious you don’t understand it. Anybody who believes Israel’s amateurish attempts at denial and PR is someone who really doesn’t want to know the truth.
They haven’t ceased fire for 75 years. They had already killed hundreds of Palestinians in 2023 before 7 October. So utter nonsense.
they were offered the hostages, as i’m sure you know, but chose to bomb them instead. the object is starvation, mass murder, destruction of hospitals, schools, places of worship. textbook genocide, supported by virtually every politician in England.
The only relative I’ve been close to, who actually fought, is my Uncle (now deceased). He was involved in the so-called ‘mopping up’ operations of Japanese troops in Far East Asia. Awful term btw. He never once talked about his experiences, but I knew he’d seen active combat and killed people.
You tend to find that the only people who glorify war and militarism, are those who’ve never experienced combat themselves.
I find Labour’s stance on a Gaza ceasefire utterly abhorrent. Starmer has obviously dropped many of his 10 Pledges on the basis – or so he claims – that they’re unaffordable. But look at Pledge 4:
4. Promote peace and human rights
No more illegal wars. Introduce a Prevention of Military Intervention Act and put human rights at the heart of foreign policy. Review all UK arms sales and make us a force for international peace and justice.
How is he keeping to that? And how is that unaffordable? The man is just a liar. And he’d lie us into a war, have no doubt.
My late father was in bombers as a wireless operator and air gunner and survived. After D-Day he went across Europe attached to land forces. Transferred from the merchant navy aged 19 in 1939.
He never once spoke of it, other than to denounce war.
He never applied for his medals, and would go nowhere near remembrance marches – over which he was utterly scornful about “toy sojers’ ponsin aboot – bloody armchair heroes – half o them in reserved occupations”. I never saw him wear a poppy.
He was like so many who actually saw action.
Stevie Boy
I agree fully, Rememberance/Armistice/Veterans day and so on is part of the militarization of society and push the notion that war is something normal and being a soldier is something noble.
Jack. I have no issue with Soldiers per se. Sweeping generalisation I know but, a lot of them have no other options in their career choices – Police, Army or Criminal. A lot also have below average education, societies rejects, so are easily brainwashed by patriotic BS. The problems, IMO, are the officer classes and the war mongering politicians who are only interested in social standing and money. War is abhorrent and evidence of an incompetent political class with no diplomatic skills and no empathy for society – all their solutions to any problem can be interpreted as ‘kill, kill, kill’.
I respect the people who made the ultimate sacrifice, but was it worth it given where we are now ?
Many get wholly inadequate post-army care and support too.
I knew someone who was ex-services, who had a scar from a shrapnel injury on his forehead – don’t know the full circumstances behind his injury.
He admitted he had difficulties with stuff like basic numeracy and managing a budget, due to that brain injury. He’d spent much of his time since leaving the forces struggling to keep work, pay rent, with spells living rough on the streets. If he’s representative, the politicians sending people into battle should be ashamed.
My late father enlisted in the RAF the moment war was declared in September 1939. He served first in North Africa, and then in Burma, spending the last 3 years of the war as a PoW. Younger readers of this blog, or who are not from UK/Australia/NZ may not be so aware of this, but Allied PoWs were treated apallingly badly by the Japanese, who treated them with scorn because surrendering was against the Japanese military code of honour.
They were beated, starved, mistreated, forced to do horrendous, backbreaking work and worse. Thousands died. My father survived because he was very fit and in the prime of life when the war started. There was huge publicity for many years in the press and broadcast media about how bad the Japanese were.. My father refused to discuss the war, but my grandmother told me that when he arrived home, after three months’ recuperation in India, he weighed only 6 stones. He would probably have died from beatings and starvation had the war lasted a week or two longer.
Effectively he endured 3 years of non-stop physical and psychological torture. He made a full and complete recovery physically, but the end result was that he became a very difficult man to live with. He was prone to fierce, unpredictable rages, mostly directed against those closest to him. These rages were not unusual amongst former Japanese PoWs. Although given to rages against people close to him, he never expressed any anger or resentment explicitly against the Japanese.
Most of my schoolmates’ dads also refused to discuss the war, but none of them had the terrifying rages my father exhibited. So wars don’t just affect those who fight in them, they affect the next generation as well. Which is why no-one sane should ever want to start a war.
He was constantly criticising everyone, especially me; the first, and as far as I can remember the only time he ever praised me was when the family went on our first skiing holiday when I was 9 yrs old, remarking how quickly I was learning to ski. That didn’t really mean very much, because children do learn to ski much quicker than adults.
He verbally attacked everyone in the privacy of his own home (not so much in public), but for some reason I was his prime target. Everything I said would be scorned and ridiculed and picked to shreds. I’ve been left with a total lack of confidence: I can’t ask girls out; I hate going to pubs; the only social functions I don’t fear are funerals, because at least then I don’t have to pretend to be enjoying myself; in group conversations I’m reluctant to join in. I think with time, and especially following my father’s death, this lack of confidence has mostly worn off, but it’s still there to a limited extent. I still hate pubs. It’s too late now to find a wife or have children.
Anyone who actually wants to start a war has to be totally f***ing insane.
When my father got to about age 55, he began to lose his hearing. He attributed this to the war, particularly “our own” artillery firing, not so much the enemy’s bombs. He applied for a war pension for his poor hearing. He was refused a pension, on the grounds that it was just the effect of age (nonsense if I’ve inherited his genes, my hearing is perfect, and I’m in my 70s), but they did give him a lump sum, equivalent to about £20,000 in today’s money.
The only good thing about the war was that it enabled him to go to university, to gain an MSc in chemistry, and to go on to a successful and lucrative career in ICI.
I feel your pain. My grandfather was a Northumbrian Fusilier, the regiment sent to buttress Singapore against the Japanese invasion. The allies there had already surrendered by the time they got there so they were forced to retreat through S.E. Asia before being captured. I’ve always despised Churchill for being a terrible strategist, I blame him entirely for what happened to the Fusiliers.
My grandad was a lovely man in many ways aside from the constant outbursts he’d apologise for. He always forgave the Japanese. Near to his death he grabbed hold of me and told me “there’s no glory in war”, the conflict haunted him to his last breath.
My mother was affected in much the same way as you’ve described. She grew up for the first few years of her life without her father. My grandad hadn’t known about her until he got back. He was listed as M.I.A. before arriving home in much the same state as your dad. The trauma never stopped with her. She took the brunt of it on behalf of her other siblings. Stuff like that passes down the generations.
I think, due to her, what would have been natural stoicism and love for him, she never joined the dots. She’s lived a tortured life in many ways; always blaming herself for everything, often shouting when not necessary.
In order to make up for her occasional off-the-wall outbursts, and due to her coming from an otherwise loving, caring, kind family, she’s always been kind to people too (in between “episodes”) along with serving as a social worker and college teacher. She’s always tried to give back through community work. Unfortunately she discovered feminism which, in my view, compounded the problem along with my father’s betrayal.
My grandad’s and her suffering have been continually mocked by certain youtubers that have been in my computer, along with security service people and others from government, that I believe have been on this site. A doxxer decided to let the world know she was prone to these episodes, local rozzers, it would seem, also encouraged this because I made the mistake of offending one of them once (they’ve been after me ever since). Big men that they are.
The supposed patriots only seem to mock, deride and condescend. There is very little empathy for the traumatised. I left a note for the aforementioned Youtuber, explaining that I felt she’d been traumatised by my grandad’s service, which he read while again hacking my computer, again. In response he made a video featuring some random tosser who’s grandad had served in Burma in the special forces in order to show that only inferior people suffer trauma, I imagine.
The biggest war-mongers are always the biggest cowards as far as I’m concerned. I spit on them all.
P.S. Sorry for posting, Craig. I know I’m not welcome here. Some things need to be said however.
> but we have to continue to hold back the tide of fascism with all our might.
I don’t see this as a tide that has just now arrived on the horizon. I believe we have already been washed over with it, as if we have been built floats to believe there never was a tide. I haven’t lived for as long as you have but ever since reciting the (US) pledge of allegiance for 12 yrs straight (mandatorily), it has always felt like we (Westerners) have been duped much longer than I have lived. It is cool that some have noticed it recently, but it seems like these things were started before and/or continued during your time serving the state.
Those nervously begging us to take a hegemon’s side (omergerd pls choose the one that raped/stole/brainwashed more of the world’s population) just sound like they have the Stockholm Syndrome. The more shade ‘your’ side throws at the other should be an obvious sign how shitty your govts are (and have been). Events in reality speak louder than any Hollywood/MSM msg they can color. Actions speak louder than birds. Good luck Mr Murray, but this tide didn’t start today; it seems like they have only just now popped your float.
Probably makes more sense to write to the PF to see if Police Scotland have lodge a report with the PF and if you are to be prosecuted for some offence. If you are prosecuted you will get your phone back after the case concludes unless the phone is subject to forfeiture as part of court proceedings.
I haven’t been interviewed about any offence or charged with any offence, so it seems most unlikely. If Police Scotland have lodged a report with the PF, presumably that is what their reply would say.
There is nothing on my phone which could possibly relate to any criminal offence.
I am sure it is simply vindictive and harassing behaviour. Hardly a coincidence your Twitter account was trashed I would say, because the only object could have been to separate you from 140,000 followers, and thus stifle the critiques and analyses you thoughtfully provide. Taken together it looks like a deliberate attempt to silence you via harassment and bureaucratic procedures which sap your energy and funds. A classic method from the old East Europe to silence dissidents, and seek to find reasons to detain people. In Israel right now, the same is happening to the brave citizens who attempt to demonstrate against the genocide.
Not to mention the ridiculously spurious grounds they are imprisoning Palestinians for, such as liking a Facebook plea for a ceasefire, or praying for Gazs. Social media has become an incredibly useful tool for repression and banning of unwelcome opinions by authoritarian governments and agencies, and isolating people from their social and political groups. How ironic when you think of the absurd utopia we were promised.
disturbing for what it says about the legal system of scotland… i thought they did a similar merry go round with alex salmond… i suppose the purpose is to wear a person down via state apparatus and institutions working for the further corruption of the legal state… that is my conclusion and i would love it to be disproved, but all signs point in the direction of clear harassment on the part of the gov’t..
I am getting messages from your phone via text asking where I am.
Yep that’s me. Are you still in Thailand?