Month: September 2022

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

As many as six in 10 British manufacturing businesses are at risk of closure, according to a recent survey as soaring energy bills and the wider cost-of-living crisis has owners feeling the squeeze.

MakeUK, a manufacturing lobby organization in the U.K., announced on Saturday that 42 percent of manufacturers have seen their electricity bills rise by 100 percent in the past 12 months, and 32 percent have also seen their gas bill double.

The rise in prices has seen 13 percent of manufacturers already reduce their hours of operation, and 12 percent have been forced to make job cuts as a direct result of increased energy bills. The majority of businesses warn that if bills continue to increase this year and rise by over 50 percent as expected, closures and redundancies “will become inevitable.”

🚨BREAKING🚨

Out of control energy bills are now business threatening for 60% of manufacturers.

We’re calling on Government to look at introducing an Industry Price Cap to freeze energy bills at an agreed rate. pic.twitter.com/Xhto87bZVL

— Make UK Campaigns (@MakeUKCampaigns) September 3, 2022

The lobby group issued on Monday a proposed 100-day plan for the incoming prime minister, Liz Truss, who was announced on Monday.

It includes a call for an emergency budget; a demand to commission the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the Shortage Occupation List (SOL), which outlines key job roles in high demand in the U.K. to allow businesses to recruit from overseas more easily; and an overhaul of the Apprenticeship Levy “to ensure British people are among the most productive and highly skilled workers in the world.”

Last week, U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs predicted that inflation could rise to an eye-watering 22 percent in the U.K. next year if the current rise in wholesale energy prices continues as expected.

The energy price cap, which limits how much energy companies can charge domestic consumers in the U.K., could rise by more than 80 percent at its next review in January, which the bank warns would “imply headline inflation peaking at 22.4 percent.”

Inflation in Britain reached double digits for the first time since the 1980s in July, and if Goldman Sachs estimates were to be realized, the cost of living in the U.K. would come close to hitting the country’s post-war record of 24.5 percent inflation set in August 1975.

European solidarity continues cracking amid growing protests in different corners of the EU, with citizens angry at the collective policy of “standing up to Russia” in support of Ukraine at all costs. For example, Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock days ago openly expressed that she’s committed to support Ukraine “no matter what German voters think.”

But elsewhere, Italy’s League party leader Matteo Salvini, (which the mainstream media consistently dubs as “far-right wing” – though he would describe his party as the government of “good sense”) on Sunday broke ranks with other European leaders who have lately seemed to echo some form of this ‘Ukraine first’ policy.

On Sunday Salvini urged an end to Russia energy sanctions which are only leaving Europeans “on their knees” due to higher energy bills and lack of supply. “Several months have passed and people are paying two, three, even four times more for their bills,” he said in an interview RTL radio. “And after seven months, the war continues and Russian Federation coffers are filling with money.”

He explained that not only are the sanctions not working, but they hit Italy harder. While saying he stands in solidarity with Ukraine, he’s not willing to stick with something obviously counterproductive where the blowback is felt more in Europe, Italy in particular with its soaring energy import prices, and not the intended target of the Putin government.

This was the same message he issued to a gathering of Italy’s political leaders on Lake Como, where he stressed that Russia’s export surplus of $140 billion is the direct result of these backfired sanctions.

“Do we have to defend Ukraine? Yes,” Salvini said. “But I would not want the sanctions to harm those who impose them more than those who are hit by them.” Politico meanwhile noted his coalition is expected to win big in late September national elections: 

Salvini’s remarks come just weeks before Italians head to the polls on September 25 in a national election in which a right-wing coalition that includes the League is expected to win. His comments could therefore raise concerns about the future government’s resolve against Russia among other EU politicians, especially given one of Salvini’s allies in the coalition, Brothers of Italy leader Giorgia Meloni, has vowed to stand firm with NATO on tough measures against Moscow.  

Salvini called for a rethinking of current tactics, but still vowed that if in power his League party won’t stop backing Ukraine. “If we get into government will we change alliances? No. We remain deeply, proudly and firmly rooted in a free and democratic West that opposes war and aggression,” he explained. “But if we adopt an instrument to hurt the aggressor and after seven months of war it has not been hurt, at least considering a change seems legitimate to me.”

“We certainly need a European shield, like during COVID,” Salvini said of collective measures which could be more sensible in lowering energy prices and saving jobs:

“In place of sanctions, which were supposed to hurt the Russians, it would be better to protect the Italians and Europeans with a shield, a parachute,” Salvini said on the stump for the September 25 general election in the northern town of Bolzano.

“The only emergency in this moment are electricity and gas bills. It is serious that one side of politics does not understand this,” he said referring primarily to the center left. “It is a continental and national problem”.

Naturally (and just like is typical in US political discourse), the mere suggestion of backing down from any sanctions currently on the table resulted in his political opponents labeling Salvini essentially a Putin puppet.

Meanwhile, in the UK, where leaders have long demanded the population “sacrifice” for the sake of Ukraine…

#ThisMorning has turned completely dystopian and Black Mirror by offering to pay energy bills as a competition prize. pic.twitter.com/hs1DD6NXbo

— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) September 5, 2022

Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio of the Together for the Future party charged that Salvini’s comments stem ultimately from wanting to “do [Vladimir] Putin a favor.” Di Maio said in a Sunday media interview: “The issue of sanctions is very clear in the Italian right: They don’t have a line,” while at the same time Enrico Letta, the leader of the center-left Democratic Party, quipped: “I don’t think Putin could have said it better.”

But underscoring that the proverbial chickens are about to come home to roost, Reuters on Monday writes in the wake of Salvini’s warnings that “Italy’s net energy import costs are set to more than double this year to nearly 100 billion euros ($99.5 billion), the economy minister said, warning Rome could not spend indefinitely to cushion the blow on the economy.”

Authored by Owen Evans via The Epoch Times,

A Christian chaplain who was forced out of his job and reported to a terrorist watchdog for giving a sermon defending the right to question LGBT ideology claims he was also then blacklisted as a safeguarding risk to children by the Church of England (CofE).

Rev. Bernard Randall, 49, from Derbyshire, a former chaplain of Christ’s College, Cambridge, is taking Trent College in Derbyshire to an employment tribunal over alleged religious discrimination after he was sacked by the fee-paying CofE school and reported to a government terrorism watchdog.

Anglican deacon and broadcaster Fr. Calvin Robinson told The Epoch Times by email that it was “awful the way Rev. Randall had been treated” but that many clergymen are stifled by “woke hierarchy.”

Woke Activists

“The woke activists who have captured much of the CofE cannot tolerate any opposition to their agenda, even moderate and considered opposition which encourages debate,” said Randall, who is ordained by the CofE, in a statement.

He said that he initially expected support from the church, but instead found that he had been marked as a “risk to children” by church officials for “expressing, moderately” the CofE’s own teaching on human sexuality in a CofE chapel.

In 2019, Randall was disciplined and lost his job as a chaplain at Trent College after preaching a sermon that presented the Christian viewpoint on gender identity and LGBT ideology.

He is claiming £120,000 ($138,000) in damages at an employment tribunal that begins on Monday, arguing that Trent College unfairly sacked him because of his religious and philosophical beliefs.

Randall said he had presented the traditional Christian view of human identity and sexuality and told students that they were not compelled to “accept an ideology they disagree with” but should debate and make up their own minds about the issue.

A man prays in a church as shoppers make their last minute purchases on Christmas Eve in Birmingham, England, on Dec. 24, 2018. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

The school reported Randall to Prevent, the government’s counter-terrorism watchdog, after he raised concerns at the school about an external LGBT group, Educate and Celebrate, that had encouraged school staff to chant “smash heteronormativity” at a training session.

Police subsequently said that they found that it did not meet the threshold for a Prevent referral, and no further action was taken and no case was recorded on the force system.

His legal team, represented by Christian Concern, alleges that the Bishop of Derby, the Rt. Rev. Libby Lane, refused to allow him to officiate in Church services, and argue that this is an act of discrimination, harassment, and a breach of the Equality Act 2010.

‘Implications’

He also claims that he was told that he was a “moderate risk to children” and vulnerable adults in a risk assessment undertaken by the Church of England’s safeguarding team in the Diocese of Derby.

His legal team claims that a Data Subject Access request revealed that a senior member of Derby Cathedral suggested that there would be “implications” for anyone associated with the cathedral if they publicly supported Randall in his legal action. They also claim that internal emails revealed cooperation between Trent College and the Diocese of Derby to ensure Randall could not officiate again in the region.

He is also taking separate legal action against the bishop of Derby and the CofE.

Calvin Robinson in an undated file photo. (Courtesy of Calvin Robinson)

Fr. Calvin Robinson joined the breakaway conservative Global Anglican Future Conference this year after he was cancelled by the CofE because white senior clergy were fearful that he refuted claims that Britain is “institutionally racist” even though he is black.

“It’s awful the way Rev. Randall has been treated. The State Church is so afraid of being politically incorrect, it now deems its own teaching as a safeguarding risk. It’s absurd,” he told The Epoch Times.

“There are many fantastic clergymen being silenced and stifled by a woke hierarchy. I pray for their liberation,” he added.

‘Stalinesque’ Interrogations

Commenting in a statement, Randall said that it had been a “hostile, traumatic and deeply stressful” experience and that “safeguarding” had been weaponised against what the Church believes to be a difficult voice.

He experienced what he described as “Stalinesque” interrogations in which he was told that refusing to capitulate to the allegations and to deny his beliefs made him a risk.

“I do not believe delivering a sermon can be a safeguarding issue. I did not think anything I said was wrong. I certainly didn’t make personal attacks. I was told by the safeguarding team at Derby diocese that my sermon and my views, based on C of E teaching, could potentially cause someone anxiety, as if that is abuse,” said Randall.

“If the Church of England believes that its own teaching based on the Bible is a safeguarding risk then what does this say about what state it’s in?” he added.

The Epoch Times contacted Trent College, the Diocese of Derby, and the CofE for comment.

New Prime Minister Liz Truss may have only weeks to deliver a confidence turnaround in the UK economy or face a surge in violent crime and breakdown in public order caused by a cost-of-living crisis.

The Times revealed police chiefs fear “economic turmoil and financial instability” has the “potential to drive increases in particular crime types,” such as shoplifting, burglary, vehicle theft, and online fraud and blackmail, as Brits face one of the worst collapses in living standards in a century amid energy hyperinflation. 

“Prolonged and painful economic pressure” could spark “greater civil unrest,” similar to the 2011 London riots, the leaked national strategy paper read. 

“Greater financial vulnerability may expose some staff to a higher risk of corruption, especially among those who fall into significant debt or financial difficulties,” it continued. 

One police chief noticed increased violent crime as inflation is stuck at multi-decade highs. This comes as energy regulator Ofgem increased the cap on power bills to a record £3,549 ($4,189) beginning Oct. 1 from £1,971 ($2,330). That cap is expected to rise to £5,439 ($6,427) by January and £7,272 ($8,594) by spring. 

Besides police, energy executives warned that mass civil unrest looms as people cannot afford their heating and electricity bills this winter. 

About 160,000 Brits have joined a movement against skyrocketing electricity bills, vowing not to pay come Oct. 1. 

Last Friday, Russia’s energy giant Gazprom PJSC halted flows via Nord Stream 1 to Europe, sending EU natural gas and electricity prices soaring on Monday. This means Truss hardly has any time to deliver a coherent strategy to save households from energy poverty and businesses from failing. 

The massive protest in Prague this past weekend, where tens of thousands of Czechs flooded the streets, offers a glimpse of the impending social unrest that could hit the street of the UK if power bills continue rising without government intervention. 

Published last week was a new report via Verisk Maplecroft, a UK-based risk consulting and intelligence firm, warning there’s a high risk of social unrest in Europe later this year due to rising inflation. 

Europeans are finally waking up to how bad Western sanctions on Russia have backfired, as their governments sacrificed ordinary people over NATO’s proxy fight against Russia in Ukraine. These protests could spread like wildfire across Europe, and it appears the UK is preparing for the worst-case scenario. 

Authored by John Cody via Remix News,

The alleged death threats from neo-Nazis against Green politician Manoj Subramaniam have made headlines across Germany and led to tension in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s largest state by population. However, the councilor from Erkelenz staged the various threats in an elaborate scheme, according to the result of an investigation published by the public prosecutor’s office.

The 33-year-old, whose parents immigrated from Sri Lanka, had submitted numerous complaints.

First, his car windows were smashed, and swastikas sprayed on the vehicle.

Another time, he claimed SS runes and a swastika were drawn on the doorbell of his house.

Then, he revealed that a swastika was scrawled on the sidewalk in front of his apartment and that he found razor blades in the mail.

The politician also received death threats signed by NSU 2.0, referring to the National Socialist Underground (NSU) group that committed a number of murders across Germany for years.

Manoj Subramaniam claimed SS runes and a swastika were drawn on the doorbell of his house

The police took protective measures for the politician, and state security allegedly began intensive investigations, as he asserted. Journalists made the case big and North Rhine-Westphalia Greens parliamentary group leader Verena Schäffer expressed her solidarity.

“Right-wing extremists are threatening political volunteers to silence them. Thank you, Manoj Subramaniam, for not being silent and raising your voice,” stated Lamya Kaddor, a member of the Bundestag.

However, the evidence now shows that not a single threat was real, according to German news outlet Focus.

“As part of these investigations, the suspicion was confirmed that the reported crimes did not occur, that they were faked, and that there was no threat. Search measures and an interrogation of the accused have confirmed this suspicion,” the Aachen police reported. 

Police and prosecutors are now investigating Subramaniam. The politician resigned his mandate at the weekend and also resigned from the party.

Germany has been beset by a number of hate hoaxes over the last years, including a case involving popular Israeli singer, Gil Ofarim, who prosecutors say lied about an alleged anti-Semitic incident inside the Leipzig Hotel Westin. The case originally sparked an outcry about anti-Semitism in Germany before video disproving his allegations was released.

There was also the Sebnitz case where a mob of skinheads supposedly drowned a toddler only for it to turn into one of the biggest debacles and hate hoaxes in Germany’s modern history. There is also the case in Mittweide, where police determined that nobody actually ended up having a swastika carved on their forehead (police later proved the alleged victim in the case did it herself). In Müglen, foreigners were not hunted on the streets despite national press reporting claiming otherwise, and in Chemnitz, the same accusation that sparked a nationwide outcry has never been proven.

In Dresden, an Eritrean asylum seeker was not murdered by right-wing extremists from the Pegida movement, but killed by a fellow Eritrean.

Authored by Lawrence Kadish via The Gatestone Institute,

Standing at a podium in Philadelphia, US President Joseph Biden recently sought to leverage the heritage of a city that gave birth to our American democracy while making such a fiercely partisan speech that its ultimate legacy may be to further divide a divided nation. Had he been more truthful about our nation’s current challenges, he might have stood inside a supermarket where prices for basic staples needed by working families are skyrocketing.

He also could have chosen many of our New York neighborhoods where career criminals have essentially been presented with a “get out of jail” card by many in Biden’s political party.

Then again, he could have stood next to a gasoline pump and acknowledged that his energy policies have returned us to an era of being energy dependent on foreign nations that are hostile to the very democracy he is sworn to protect.

These realities reveal that America is at a dangerous tipping point, where the future of our nation is literally in question. One suspects no one in the White House is asking themselves how they can avoid previous leadership failures that allowed countries to go from global dominance to history’s dustbin. They need only look at the arc of time for nations such as Spain, the Netherlands and Britain to see how inept, incompetent or weak leadership led to their inevitable collapse as the dominant nation of their time. It is as if there is a house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with no one in it.

The Chinese, however, are students of history. With an economy that reaches around the globe and a military now capable of patrolling the Pacific, it is apparent they are betting that America will fail its test of leadership and follow others in relinquishing its global dominance. In this case, China is ready to assume that role.

The stark reality is that the current White House occupants have compounded error upon error. A speech long on partisan rhetoric but short on competence will not address the strategic errors in judgment being made by those who took a sacred oath of office to preserve, defend and protect our nation.

There is still time to hand a new generation of Americans a strong nation capable of defending its values, its citizens and its future, but that will require us to recognize what other nations refused to acknowledge: that history’s tipping point is before us.

After the controversial, two-months long coronavirus lockdown of Shanghai, China has once again placed a city of more than 20 million people under house arrest.

As Statista’s Katharina Buchholz details below, a coronavirus lockdown in Chengdu in Central China that had started on Thursday was prolonged Monday.

Mass tests are being carried out after the city saw 71 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday. While officials said the restrictions would continue until at least Wednesday, residents are uneasy due to similarities to the Shanghai lockdown, which was also announced in a piecemeal fashion. In April and May, almost 25 million people had been confined to their homes in Shanghai, with many suffering from inadequate food supply, lack of medical attention and psychological distress.

You will find more infographics at Statista

In Southern tech hub Shenzhen, a weekend lockdown was lifted while restrictions in some parts of the city continue. The announcement had led to panic buying Friday in the city that had been under a full lockdown for a week in March already and now fears a second confinement could happen. Shenzhen saw 87 new virus cases Sunday. In March, it was the biggest city China had locked down to-date after a surge in coronavirus cases not seen since the first wave of infections in early 2020 emerged there. The Southern tech hub and special economic zone is only about one hour away from Hong Kong, which also saw a record-breaking Covid outbreak around that time.

According to Our World in Data, China on Sunday recorded more than 3,000 new coronavirus cases. The highest-ever case count in the country occurred on April 14 of this year at around 29,500, almost double the 2020 high of 15,000 cases (February 13).

After the major lockdowns of Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province ended in late March and early April of 2020, China had successfully followed a zero-Covid strategy for most of 2020 and 2021. Ever since the more contagious Omicron variant emerged, however, it has challenged China’s approach of zero tolerance towards the disease.

In his first overseas trip since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the country responsible for roughly half of the world’s uranium production.

On September 14, Xi will visit Kazakhstan, the SCMP reported citing a Monday announcement at a briefing by the Kazakh foreign ministry. It follows months of speculation about the location of Xi’s first trip abroad since he went to Myanmar in January 2020. Beijing’s strict zero-Covid policy has curtailed travel inside and out of the country, and Xi and other senior figures have not left China since the start of the pandemic.

Of the 25 Politburo members, only foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi has travelled abroad. Meanwhile, the country’s No 3 official, Li Zhanshu, will go to Russia on Wednesday in a sign that China’s top officials are resuming international travel. Li, head of the legislature, will also visit Mongolia, Nepal and South Korea.

As reported previously, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said Xi will visit Bali for the Group of 20 summit in November – where Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy will also be present.

Xi will meet Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for talks the host government said were “aimed at further deepening the eternal comprehensive strategic partnership and developing political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation”.

The visit could be followed by a trip to Uzbekistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, according to the SCO’s official Telegram channel. In a post on Sunday, the SCO said that “the leaders of all states confirmed their full-time participation in the summit” in Samarkand, to be held on September 15 and 16.

More importantly, in Uzbekistan, Xi would be expected to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the first time since the pair announced a “no limits” partnership on the eve of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Just three weeks later, Russian forces invaded Ukraine, leading to much speculation about how much Xi and other Chinese leaders knew about the operation in advance.

The pair have been in telephone contact since – notably on Xi’s 69th birthday on June 15. At the time, Chinese state media quoted Xi as saying that “China is willing to continue to support the Russian side on issues related to core interests and major concerns such as sovereignty and security, to work closely on strategic cooperation between the two countries”.

Russia is one of eight member states of the SCO, along with China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. There are four observer states in the process of acceding to the forum – Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia – while Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Türkiye are dialogue partners.

Temur Umarov, an expert on China and Central Asia at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that choosing the region as a first overseas trip emphasized Beijing’s ambitions to expand its influence there. Indeed, it is hardly a coincidence that China is heading to the one country responsible for nearly half of the world’s uranium production.

A violent crackdown on civil unrest in Kazakhstan in January caught Beijing by surprise, Umarov said, with Russian troops being sent in to quell the protests. In total, there were more than 200 deaths, Human Rights Watch has said.

“We should remember that at that time, China looked so weak in Central Asia and Russia was very active,” Umarov said. “It was a pivotal moment that made China realise that something should be done to expand their understanding of Central Asia, to extend China’s ability to forecast what was going on and what will be happening in Central Asia.”

Separately, in July, after 20 years of negotiations, Beijing agreed with Bishkek and Tashkent to begin building the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway next year. It will give China another railway route into Central Asia in addition to existing links with Kazakhstan, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine appears to have given the project some impetus.

Previous media reports had speculated that Xi’s first overseas visit would be to Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the South China Morning Post reported in July that China had asked the leaders of some Western European countries to visit Beijing in November, taken by some as an indication that Xi would be confirmed for a third term as Communist Party chief at the national congress in October.