CENSORED: KEIR STARMER’S EMAILS ABOUT ISRAELI WAR CRIMES CASE

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https://www.declassifieduk.org/censored-keir-starmers-emails-about-israeli-war-crimes-case/

Starmer’s time at the CPS is under scrutiny. (Photo: Keir Starmer / Flickr)

The Crown Prosecution Service is refusing to release files on how Starmer blocked the arrest of former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni over alleged war crimes during the brutal bombing of Gaza in 2008.

  • The coalition government changed UK law in 2011 to enable Israeli ministers accused of crimes to visit Britain without fear of prosecution.
  • Declassified asks the CPS to conduct an internal review into its decision to censor the Starmer emails.

In October 2011, Keir Starmer was asked by a human rights group and law firm to issue an arrest warrant for former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, who was visiting London, over alleged war crimes.

Starmer was then Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). But two days later, he blocked the application for Livni’s arrest, citing a Foreign Office decision to grant her visit “special mission” status.

Declassified recently submitted a freedom of information (FOI) request asking for all communications to and from Starmer’s office regarding the case.

These files could shine a crucial light on the discussions which led to Livni’s escape from prosecution.

However, the CPS has censored a number of key emails, claiming that the release of such information would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs.

Starmer’s role in the Livni case requires closer inspection in light of the Labour party’s ongoing support for Israel’s brutal war on Gaza.

One of the redacted emails released to Declassified following our freedom of information request.

Tzipi Livni

Livni was the Israeli minister of foreign affairs between 2006 and 2009, and a member of Israel’s war cabinet during the brutal bombing of Gaza between December 2008 and January 2009, known as Operation Cast Lead.

According to a UN report, “numerous serious violations of international law… were committed by Israel during the military operations in Gaza”, which killed around 1,400 Palestinians, 333 of whom were children.

Those crimes included “the direct targeting and arbitrary killing of Palestinian civilians”, as well as a “deliberate and systematic policy… to target industrial sites and water installations”.

https://www.declassifieduk.org/censored-keir-starmers-emails-about-israeli-war-crimes-case/

Zionist Keir Starmer supports Israel's Gaza genocide.
Zionist Keir Starmer supports Israel’s Gaza genocide.

I remember publishing about this case of Zippy Livny escaping prosecution but there’s no sign of it …

Continue ReadingCENSORED: KEIR STARMER’S EMAILS ABOUT ISRAELI WAR CRIMES CASE

Greens call for scaling up actions against Israel, accusing UK government of complicity in killing 

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Image of the Green Party's Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.
Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.

As Israel appears to be on the brink of an all out assault on Rafah, despite warnings against such action by the UN, Red Crescent and others, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer is demanding the UK scale up actions against the Israeli government until the killing stops. Greens are calling for an end to all arms sales to Israel, prosecutions of war criminals and targeted sanctions on Israel’s leaders. 

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said: 

“It is clear that the Israeli government is refusing to heed warnings about the catastrophic implications of an all-out attack on Rafah. The UK government must now demand that Israel stop the killing, calling for an immediate ceasefire. Hamas must also agree to this ceasefire of course, and release all hostages.  

“Decisions made by the UK government – above all its failure, month after month, to call for an immediate ceasefire – have made them complicit in the killing of almost 28,000 people to date, 12,000 of whom are children.

“Israel relies on certain weapon parts manufactured in the UK, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter whose essential components are made here.

A Dutch court has today ordered the state to cease the export of F-35 spare parts to Israel. We call on the UK government to follow suit, and suspend all arms export licences to Israel until the killing stops. The UK must also cease all military collaboration with Israel, including allowing Israeli use of British bases and RAF intelligence flights over Gaza.

“Greens would also implement the requirements of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign across the UK economy. This would include excluding Israel from international sporting and music events; withdrawing all public money from funds with investments in Israel; and ending beneficial trade arrangements with Israel.

“It is clear that only outside pressure will make Israel stop its mass killing. We can increase the pressure on Israeli leaders by introducing targeted sanctions against key individuals. This would include travel bans and asset freezes on Israel’s leadership and cabinet members, in particular those calling for new settlements in Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank. 

“Finally, we would encourage UK authorities including the Metropolitan Police and Director of Public Prosecutions to pursue perpetrators of war crimes committed where UK citizens are the victims or where UK citizens are potential perpetrators. 

“There are many steps the UK government could take to pressure Israel to stop the killing. Its refusal to do so means that they are implicitly condoning the appalling carnage in Gaza.” 

Continue ReadingGreens call for scaling up actions against Israel, accusing UK government of complicity in killing 

Morning Star: Starmer’s promise of national reconciliation is a mask for worsening repression

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/editorial-starmers-promise-national-reconciliation-mask-worsening-repression

Starmer’s project is to reconcile a turbulent people to a system that neither represents nor serves them. It’s a restoration project, an attempt to put a decade of political unrest behind us and reconcile the ruled to their rulers.

That explains the horror of “protest” politics, the paranoid vetting of candidates for public office and the determination to return decision-making to a narrow professional caste, whether by preventing ordinary party members from choosing their representatives or by establishing new fiscal oversight bodies to stop elected politicians departing from Treasury and Bank of England orthodoxy, however disastrous that orthodoxy is proving.

His authoritarian instincts, visible in his harsh record as director of public prosecutions, have been on full display as a Labour leader who meets every dissenting voice with silencing orders, bans on debate, suspensions and rigged disciplinary procedures.

Britain is on this trajectory already: Tory governments since 2019 have dramatically curtailed protest rights, while state and corporate censorship are getting worse.

But Labour’s complete commitment to that agenda — and Starmer is on record saying he will maintain Tory policing laws — is a threat the left has yet to take seriously enough. Capitalism in Britain now maintains itself through the steady dismantling of our democratic rights.

Starmer’s appeal for an end to class conflict may be couched in the language of reconciliation but its reality means disarming citizens and working-class organisations oppressed by an ever more authoritarian state. It is a project that must be resisted to the hilt.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/editorial-starmers-promise-national-reconciliation-mask-worsening-repression

Continue ReadingMorning Star: Starmer’s promise of national reconciliation is a mask for worsening repression

Starmer’s child abuse sentencing attack explodes in his face: he wrote the sentencing guidelines

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Original article reposted from the Skwawkbox for non-commercial use. Well done yet again the Skwawkbox.

Reminding everyone all the time how he used to be [a bad] Director of Public Prosecutions may not have been the smart tactic

Keir Starmer’s vile exploitation of child abuse victims to attack Rishi Sunak exploded in Starmer’s face today.

Last night Labour posted a graphic claiming Sunak doesn’t care about protecting abused children or jailing paedophiles – and was rightly ripped to shreds for the disgusting tactic. Starmer then hid and sent out minions this morning to face the justified inquisition over his foul and racist tactic.

dizzy: Here’s the graphic that we’re discussing (not included in the Skwawkbox article).

But now, sharp-eyed critics have spotted that Starmer’s attack on Sunak for supposedly not sentencing paedophiles harshly enough is in fact a big fat finger pointing right back at… Keir Starmer. Because when he was Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Starmer wrote the sentencing guidelines that are used to decide whether child abusers go to prison and for how long.

After two years of work, the Sentencing Council met at least three times, once in May 2012 then in both the summer and autumn of Starmer’s last year as DPP, to discuss and agree sentencing guidelines on sexual offences – including against children. And Starmer, as DPP, was a key member of the council:

As former Corbyn speechwriter Alex Nunns pointed out, this looks bad (read appalling) for Starmer to be attacking sentencing practices that he wrote during a job that he never tires of boasting about:

But ‘bread and poses’, who first pointed out the evidence, was more pithy:

And this is far from the only issue in Starmer’s record as DPP – as well as being rated poor by those forced to work for him, he and his organisation let off the likes of Jimmy Savile and the police murderers of Ian Tomlinson, Jean Charles de Menezes, while sentencing people to prison for stealing an ice cream.

Labour has today tried to move the story along by putting out a near-identical ad but targeting Sunak over general sentencing – but nobody is buying it:

There are almost daily signs that Starmer, for all the ‘grown up’ and ‘competence’ rhetoric of his cheerleaders, just isn’t very good at politics, as well as being dishonest and both morally and politically bankrupt.

But this issue represents Starmer pulling the pin on a grenade then holding it while he points and gurns at others until it goes off in his face.

Original article reposted from the Skwawkbox for non-commercial use.

Continue ReadingStarmer’s child abuse sentencing attack explodes in his face: he wrote the sentencing guidelines