STORY
Chris Webb has won the Blackpool South by-election for the Labour Party, securing a 26.3% swing from the Conservative Party who won the seat at the 2019 General Election. The by-election was caused by the resignation of disgraced Scott Benton who was found guilty of a “very serious breach” of Parliamentary rules. Chris Webb won the seat with 10,825 votes with David Jones from the Conservatives securing 3,218 votes and Mark Butcher from Reform securing 3,101 votes.
Part of the article by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, published in the Guardian on 1 May 2024.
One of the most important decisions taken tomorrow will be who leads our nation’s capital. Labour’s candidate for London mayor, Sadiq Khan, knows what it is like to inherit a Tory shambles. His predecessor spent eight years wasting £53m, £43m of it taxpayers’ money, on a garden bridge to nowhere, burying a report about the appalling state of London’s air and squandering taxpayers’ money on unusable water cannon.
I have known Sadiq for many years, and I am proud to call him a friend and a colleague. He is someone driven by the principle of giving people the same opportunities he had, which allowed him to go from a council estate in Tooting to leading our capital. During his tenure, Sadiq has transformed the mayoralty from a laughing stock to showing leadership. Every pupil in every London state primary school now receives a free school meal. The capital’s air is cleaner to breathe. The Hopper bus fare, allowing unlimited journeys within one hour for one price, the Superloop express bus routes and the Elizabeth Line have all been delivered. Overall housing completions recently hit their highest level in London since the 1930s and more new council homes are being built now than at any time since the 1970s. And 330,000 good jobs have been created through City Hall initiatives. This is the power of Labour in government. And let us not forget that Sadiq has managed all of this in the teeth of a Tory government; just imagine what could be achieved working with a Labour one.
23 APRIL 1924
President Coolidge, in an address to the Associated Press of America, declared that when the reparations question was settled he would favour the summoning of a world conference on the limitation of armaments and the codification of international law.
Addressing a Liberal meeting, David Lloyd George, the former Prime Minister, bitterly reproached the Socialist party for “the humiliating conditions” under which the Liberal party was expected to continue to support the Government.
22 APRIL 1924
Speaking at the Independent Labour Party conference in York, Ramsay MacDonald, the Prime Minister, stated his support for the civil service and the assistance that they had offered the new Government.
The death of Marie Corelli was announced.
Emanuel Shinwell decided proposals to make working in pits safer.
21 APRIL 1924
A resolution held at the Scottish Trades Union Congress condemned the practice of allowing Army, Navy and Air Force bands to enter into competition with civilian bands.
The British Empire Exhibition was opened by His Majesty the King.
Leon Trotsky said that Ramsay MacDonald, the British Prime Minister, was “not a true representative of the workers”.
20 APRIL 1924
Ramsay MacDonald, the Prime Minister, said that there was no need for a General Election for two to three years and defended the record of the socialist Government.
Master Anthony Ball, the son of Sir William Bull MP, piloted the first tube train from Highgate to Moorgate via the Camden Town junctions and the northern sections of the City and London railway. [Anthony Ball became a railway expert and later on became the Chair of London Transport]
19 APRIL 1924
France stated that they had no intention of ending their military occupation of the Ruhr and Rhineland.
Opening the election campaign of the South African party in Johannesburg, General Smuts, the Prime Minister, denounced the Nationalist-Labour pact as a ‘miserable subterfuge’ and ‘the most immoral things that has happened in South African politics’.
18 APRIL 1924
The Reparations Commission decided to approve the conclusions in the Experts’ reports and to adopt the measures. The German Chancellor in a statement to a French press representative said that Germany would make her co-operation contingent on the concession of her demands for the re-establishment of her economic and administrative unity. Political prisoners would have to be pardoned.
Kiyoura Keigo, the Japanese Prime Minister, expressed regret at the decision of the United States Congress to exclude Japanese immigrants. This action he said would impair, but not break, the long-standing friendship between the two nations.
Moscow stated that it was disappointed at the speech made by Ramsay MacDonald, the Prime Minister, saying that it was “cloaking the demands of the British bankers”.
![PRESS RELEASE : Terrorgram added to list of proscribed terrorist organisations [April 2024]](https://www.ukpol.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/homeoffice-150x150.png)
The press release issued by the Home Office on 22 April 2024.
The UK is to become the first country in the world to proscribe the Terrorgram collective after a draft proscription order has been laid against the group in Parliament today (22 April), the Home Secretary has confirmed.
The Terrorgram collective is an online network of neo-fascist terrorists who produce and disseminate violent propaganda to encourage those who consume its content to engage in terrorist activity.
If agreed by Parliament, the order will come into effect on 26 April. This means that it will be a criminal offence to belong to, invite support for, or in certain circumstances, display articles associated with the network. Certain proscription offences can be punishable by up to 14 years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said:
The Terrorgram collective spreads vile propaganda and aims to radicalise young people to conduct heinous terrorist acts. This is why we are outlawing membership or support for the group – we will not tolerate the promotion or encouragement of terrorism in the United Kingdom.
It will become the first online terrorist network to be proscribed, alongside 80 other Extreme Right-Wing and Islamist organisations, as we continue to disrupt and outlaw terrorist groups to protect the British people.
The UK is the first country to proscribe this organisation, demonstrating the government’s commitment to tackle Extreme Right-Wing terrorism and online radicalisation in all forms. It also showcases the ability of the proscription tool to be applied to an online terrorist network, and is the first time it has been used in this way.
Following an internal review, the term ‘Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism’ was adopted as the umbrella term to make it clear that those who hold mainstream right-wing views will not be in scope of any action by counter-terrorism authorities.
The Terrorgram collective glorify attacks committed by neo-fascist terrorists, who they consider to be ‘saints,’ and encourage replication of such heinous attacks including by disseminating instructional material to help others prepare to commit acts of terrorism.
In addition to the proscription offences, several other Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT) offences continue to apply to terrorist offending online. For example, section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 makes it a criminal offence for a person to collect or possess information, or to view it online, which is likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing for acts of terrorism.
The Terrorgram collective is the 6th extreme right-wing group to be proscribed, standing alongside 75 groups proscribed for extreme Islamist or other ideologies, and 14 Northern Ireland-related groups. It also subscribes to militant accelerationist and neo-fascist ideologies, notably pursuing the collapse of the Western world and a ‘Race War’ through violent acts of terrorism, and often seeks to target young individuals to adopt their ideology.
They have previously published propaganda material designed to incite violence against ethnic and religious communities, with calls for antisemitic violence. Their propaganda also contains violent narratives that glorified the perpetrator of the 2022 Slovakia attack at a LGBTQ+ nightclub shooting, which resulted in the death of 2 people, who credited Terrorgram and its publications in his manifesto.
Whilst Islamist-inspired terrorism continues to represent the greatest terrorist threat to UK interests, the threat from Extreme-Right Wing Terrorism is growing and evolving, particularly through the radicalisation of increasingly younger individuals from dangerous online content.
Proscription grants Counter Terrorism Policing the power to compel tech companies and social media platforms to remove or block the organisation’s online content for UK users, which will be now illegal.
It is also illegal under Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006 to disseminate terrorist publications including circulating, selling, or transmitting a terrorist publication online.
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said:
The Terrorgram collective is a dangerous neo-fascist organisation that actively encourages and promotes terrorist activity.
We must do everything in our power to deter and limit the reach of hateful and terrorist ideologies, and to protect the most vulnerable in our society. Proscribing the Terrorgram collective will do just that.
The government will always use the breadth of tools available to tackle online terrorist content. The Home Office works closely with tech companies to ensure they uphold their legal obligations with regards to removing illegal terrorist content.
The Terrorgram collective will become the 81st group to be proscribed by the UK, including ISIS, National Action and the recently proscribed Wagner Group and Hizb ut-Tahrir.
![PRESS RELEASE : Rishi Sunak call with King Abdullah II of Jordan [April 2024]](https://www.ukpol.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/downingstreet-150x122.png)
The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 21 April 2024.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to King Abdullah II of Jordan this morning.
He reiterated the United Kingdom’s staunch support for Jordanian and wider regional security, in the face of recent threats. A significant escalation was not in anyone’s interests.
The Prime Minister said the UK’s focus remains on finding a resolution to the crisis in Gaza. The UK continues to work towards an immediate humanitarian pause to get far more aid in and bring the hostages safely home, leading to a longer-term sustainable ceasefire.
The leaders discussed joint efforts to significantly step up aid to Gaza, with the UK taking part in Jordanian-led aid drops and a humanitarian land corridor to Gaza, as well as the maritime aid corridor from Cyprus.
The Prime Minister said the UK’s ultimate goal remained a viable two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, and the leaders agreed on the importance of supporting a reformed Palestinian authority to deliver stability and prosperity across the Palestinian territories.