The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 31st August 2018
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 31st August 2018
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 31st August 2018
ROGER WATERS, the former leader of Pink Floyd, has dismissed the infamous ‘Skripal affair’ as nonsense in an interview with the Russian paper Izvestiya. He also blasted the White Helmets, a dubious Syrian volunteer organisation that has been accused of staging videos of chemical attacks, as part of the propaganda war against Syria.
The legendary musician said: “That the attack on the Skripals was nonsense is clear to a person with half a brain. But some don’t even have one half, that’s why they believe in this absurdity.”
The Skripal case unfolded in Salisbury in early March, when former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter were exposed to a nerve agent known as ‘Novichok’. The May government rushed to accuse Russia of involvement in the attack, which the Kremlin has repeatedly denied. Although no evidence has been provided that Russia was behind the Skripal poisoning, Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats, prompting Russia take similar retaliatory measures including shutting down the British Council and closing the British Consulate in St Petersburg.
Waters also accused White House officials of being behind the Ukrainian crisis. He claimed that Victoria Nuland, the spokeswoman for the US Department of State from 2011 to 2013, had organised the crisis. “I don’t know how Ukraine is going to find a way out of this situation but blaming Russia for it is ridiculous,” he said.
When asked about his opinion on the White Helmets, which reported an alleged poison gas attack in Douma in April, Waters called its actions “just an episode of the propaganda war that tries to demonise Putin, Assad, Iran and so on.” Waters, who is known for speaking out on political issues from the stage, denounced the White Helmets as “a fake organisation that exists only to create propaganda for the jihadists and terrorists” at a concert in Barcelona in April.
His comments came shortly after the White Helmets released footage of an alleged deadly poison gas attack on the then rebel-held city of Douma that they claimed had been carried out by Syrian pro-government forces. But. according to the Russian Defence Ministry, the video was staged by the White Helmets and British intelligence.
British, American and French warplanes bombed three Syrian targets in retaliation despite the Syrian government’s denial of ever using chemical weapons.
THERESA May has directed officials to start working on a British satellite navigation system amidst an ongoing row with the European Union over Britain’s access to the bloc’s Galileo system after Brexit.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has signed off funding amounting to as much as £100 million to “map out” the project, which will rival the continental system that Britain had a key role in creating. Last May the government confirmed
that it was developing options for a British global satellite navigation system. Then junior Defence Minister Guto Bebb put the cost at between three to five billion pounds.
The disclosure comes as European Union officials said Britain, which is set to leave the EU in seven months’ time, could be denied access to Galileo’s sensitive security information.
Galileo, the €10 billion satellite programme being developed by the EU to rival the American GPS (Global Positioning System), is intended to provide accurate position, navigation and time information for governments, citizens, industries and the military.
British companies made critical contributions to the programme, including building payloads for the satellites and developing the security systems. The British government said there was mutual benefit for Britain to remain involved in Galileo, but it needed assurance from Brussels that British industries could collaborate on an equal basis and Britain could have continued access to the necessary security-related information. The government warned in May that it wanted a billion pounds back from the EU if it was excluded from the Galileo system.
Britain has, in fact, already been frozen out of the project. In June, British firms were blocked from bidding for the next round of contracts for Galileo.
“There is an option on the table that would benefit both the UK and EU. If that is not accepted by the EU, we are a proud and confident nation and will be looking at all alternatives,” British Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation Sam Gyimah said in furious response.