UK outsources torture

'Da Marty Code" man vindicated.

Startling proof was produced yesterday by the Observer on torture by the USA - abetted by our Government. My fellow delegate to the Council of Europe, Swiss MP Dick Marty has bravely exposed the scale and horror of the euphemistically named 'extraordinary rendition.'

He was mocked in our June Meeting in Strasbourg as a fantasist.  His report was ridiculed as the "Da Marty Code."  Bush’s new friends from former communist countries Poland and Romania  sneered. Having been subservient to one super power for a generation, why are they so anxious to knee-jerk for a new master?

In a remarkable interview for The Observer, British resident Bisher al-Rawi has told how he was betrayed by the security service despite having helped keep track of Abu Qatada, the Muslim cleric accused of being Osama bin Laden's 'ambassador in Europe'. He was abducted and stripped naked by US agents, clad in nappies, a tracksuit and shackles, blindfolded and forced to wear ear mufflers, then strapped to a stretcher on board a plane bound for a CIA 'black site' jail near Kabul in Afghanistan. He was then taken on to the jail at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for four years detention.

A report by Parliament's intelligence and security committee last week disclosed that, although the Americans warned MI5 it planned to render al-Rawi in advance, in breach of international law, the British did not intervene on the grounds he did not have a UK passport.

The Council of Europe’s full Assembly of 48 nations spurned the Poles and Romanians and voted by the necessary two thirds majority to support Dick Marty. The horrors of terrorism are known to all of us. But that is no justification for breaching  global standards of human rights. The excesses of extraordinary rendition provide a propaganda victory that will incite new terrorism.

Pharmageddon

At last. Doctors are challenging the greedy might of the Pharmaceutical companies.

Ludicrously overpriced new drugs are marketed by blackmail, deceit and spin. When NICE rejects drugs on cost grounds, the Pharmas hire PR firms to provoke patients to campaign for their use. No one believes the PR wolves but the media and politicians are sympathetic to the pleas of individual chronically ill patients.

It's happened with a string of new drugs. The blame is always unjustly put on the Government who have doubled NHS spending and trebled spending on drugs.

British doctors are rebelling against the £761 per injection cost of a new drug for wet macular degeneration. Almost every local newspaper in the land has been approached by a resident who 'will go blind unless the Government cough up.' The illness blurs the centre of the vision and cane result in blindness. There is an alternative drug used in 48 out of 50 states in the USA that is reported to be equally effective.

Former health supremo, Pat Hewitt, demanded that the better value drug be trialled here. The Pharma drag its feet. Manchester is leading the way by offering patients the cheaper drug Avastin on the NHS. This is the only way to challenge the hypocritical blackmail of the pharmas that is exploiting public gullibility.

Pharmas plead that high prices are essential to fund research. Not true. They all spend far more on PR and marketing than they do on research. Their profits are still vast.

Good luck Manchester in your battle to fell these flawed giants.

Flood addiction

Yes the floods were serious, but give us a rest please.

One overexcited reporter today compared the Gloucester floods to hurricane Katrina. Six tragic deaths here, 1876 in New Orleans. There are dire warnins of food prices rising by 20% when less that 1% of farming land was inundated. The tabloids flew into frenzy on an aftermath of diseases and scourges on a Biblical scale. When do we expect the plague of boils?

Blame has been sprayed at all authorities for not stopping a month's rain falling in a couple of hours. The media is addicted to a dramatic story accompanied by frightening pictures. It's their fix.

They must learn when to say 'No.'

Comments

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[Paul Flynn]

The 'dig' as you call it is drawing attention to the inability of Newsquest papers to report on outrages in their own back yard, while pontificating on everyone else's problems.

The Argus did not mention the redundancies of seven of their staff 18 months ago nor the new pension steal that Newsquest has now introduced. Why should Newsquest's problems be censored from local papers? Did your paper have a similar omerta?

[Kevin Ward]

Paul, I know I should have expected a few anti-Argus/Newsquest digs from you ... but just to be clear the £10,000 comes from the Gannett Foundation - our US parent company's charitable foundation administered by trustees.
This foundation distributes money to registered charities across the UK and US.
Many Newport and Gwent charities have benefited from this in recent years - including Teen Challenge (£15k), Growing Space (£5k) and the Mon, Brecon and Abergavenny Canals Trust (£8k).
Incidentally, the £10k donation is to the National Floods Appeal administered by the Red Cross and not just for Worcester.
Not looking for compliments - just setting the record straight.

[Paul Flynn]

Thanks. The last conversation we had was when I was praising the Argus interactive website. Your result on the flood Saturday proves that websites have been accepted as a source of instant local communication.

I saw the video as well. The Argus seems to have dropped theirs. If Newsquest has £10,000 to give away (lucky Worcester) why are they robbing their staff by altering the pension scheme?

Delighted to see that a spirited 40% of your readers did not rise to the bait of your loaded question on flood barriers.

Oscar the missing cat is a bit early for the silly season. The Argus usually waited 'til August for the 'Gwent mystery beast spotted' ones.

Best,

[Kevin Ward]

Thanks Paul. I wouldn't disagree with your views on the need for more permanent flood protection in some areas.
You're quite right about electronic media leading the way with floods information - we were part of that, with our website on the Saturday of the floods attracting 10,500 users compared with our usual Saturday figure of around 2,000.
Why not take a look - www.worcesternews.co.uk

[Paul Flynn]

Thanks for your comment Kevin and congratulations on your new job. I did start my posting by acknowledging that the floods were serious.

The media has a vital role is passing on comforting information and warnings to those is distress. The instant electronic media lead the way but I am sure that the print media perform vital functions - including the Worcester News with crucial local insights. Having never seen a copy of that paper, I have no interest in tarring it with any brush.

If regular flooding is inevitable there are certain precautions we should take. Why put electric connections at floor level, when they would work just as effectively at higher level? Riverside dwellers must sacrifice some of their pleasant river views if they want permanent flood barriers.

Homes can be made flood resistant at costs of amenity and convenience. Already accepted is the need for permanent flood protection for vital utilities.

But still no plague of boils, but a largely unjustified profiteering hike in food prices is very likely.

Good to see the former deputy editor of the Argus still reading a Newport blog and, no doubt, prospering in Worcester.

Best,

Paul Flynn

[Kevin Ward]

I have to take you to task on your floods piece.
As the editor of a daily newspaper in one of the affected areas (Worcester), I can assure you we have not been 'addicted' to the story.
What we have been doing - both in print and online - is providing a vital local source of news and information to people struggling to cope with the worst flooding in this area for 60 years. The work we and other local media have been doing over the last week or so has been praised by local MPs and councils.
Should the floods be compared with the likes of Katrina? Of course not, that's an utter nonsense.
Are we blaming the authorities for the rainfall? No. But we are asking pertinent questions about the way in which they responded to pretty accurate forecasts and the lessons that can be learned in terms of, for instance, the timely erection of flood barriers.
I accept that some of the national media coverage of the floods has been sensational.
But don't tar us all with the same brush.

Kevin Ward, Editor, Worcester News.