Government censors evidence of corruption

From the Guardian:

The government was yesterday scrambling to recover secret documents containing evidence suggesting corrupt payments were made in Britain's biggest arms deal. The documents, published in full today by the Guardian, detail for the first time how the price of Tornado warplanes was inflated by £600m in the 1985 Al Yamamah deal with Saudi Arabia. A telegram with the details from the head of the Ministry of Defence's sales unit had been placed in the National Archives. Yesterday it was hastily withdrawn by officials who claimed its release had been "a mistake".

A PDF of the agreement is here.

A telegram relating to the progression of the sale (PDF).

A briefing to the government about the sale is here (PDF).

A PDF of minutes of the meeting between the government & the Saudis.

How much will they cost?

From the Yorkshire Post:

A devastating document slipped out by the Government yesterday revealed that the Home Office believes it is impossible to work out exactly what ID cards will be used for, and what biometric data they should hold, until after they are introduced.

A solution looking for a problem...

Home Office Minister Liam Byrne insisted last week that the scheme would cost £5.4bn over 10 years, close to previous official estimates, and that it would be introduced according to plan from 2008.

But his claims were spectacularly contradicted last night in the Government's official reply to a hard-hitting report published by the Commons Science and Technology Committee addressing flaws in the project.

The reply is in paragraph 32 on pages 23-4.

The cost estimates published are based on a reference design and as such are improved and revised as our understanding of the underlying cost assumptions improves. These will continue to be refined through discussion with the market and comparisons with appropriate benchmark projects throughout the procurement and, therefore, remain flexible... Whilst we are keen to remain open and transparent on the level of detail provided to the public in the cost estimates for the programme, we must also protect the commercially sensitive information of our suppliers. The price that they are charging for the technology services will be commercially sensitive.

Sounds about right for Labour - private profit above public need... How much are they going to waste on them before realising they're an awful idea, which no-one wants? I'm assuming a hell of a lot, as the government are incapable of admitting they're wrong & our only hope is that Labour are thrown out a the next election, and replaced by preferably a Tory-Lib Dem coalition, which won't be until either 2009/10...

I like this reply in paragraph 38 on page 28:

During the development of the Identity Cards Programme there is no evidence that Government has thus far imposed politically-motivated deadlines, and no timetable is dictated by the legislation.

Oh really? See one of my previous posts which had the following from the FT:

Labour plans to race forward with the contentious identity cards scheme to ensure the multi-billion pound infrastructure is up and running before the next election, neutering a Tory pledge to scrap it.

But Andy Burnham, the home office minister responsible for the scheme, said Mr Cameron’s “throwaway line” would be rendered irrelevant by the rapid roll-out of the scheme. He said it would be a fait accompli by the 2008 or 2009 expected date of the next general election. “I’m keen to see plenty of ID cards in circulation come the next election,” he said. “The whole landscape will have changed by the time if – and it’s a big if – the Tories ever get anywhere near power.”

How can they make such a blatant lie in an official reply of all places?

In the Designated Area (III)...

Finally got around to stick up some photos from last Wednesday's protest - sorry it's taken a while, but I've been busy.

I got there slightly late - bloody District Line being delayed & then making me change trains... Anyway, lots of new people there this time, but strangely no Mark Thomas, despite the fact it's his idea!

Unfortunately, I don't have as many photos this time - ther're on Flickr of course - as the batteries in my camera ran out & I didn't have any spares. Kinda pissed me off as there was some old woman in a fantastic costume protesting against the Russians killing journalists. Just wished I'd managed to get a photo of her beforehand...

White people are terrorists too!!!!!!

A mate emailed this story from the Nelson News:

TWO Pendle men have appeared before Pennine magistrates accused of having "a master plan" after what is believed to be a record haul of chemicals used in making home-made bombs was found in Colne.

Robert Cottage (49), of Talbot Street, Colne, and David Bolus Jackson (62)...

The 22 chemical components recovered by police are believed to be the largest haul ever found at a house in this country.

Cottage is an ex-BNP member who stood as a candidate in the Pendle Council elections in May.

To quote my mate's email:

Funny how this didn't get coverage - but if their names had been Abdul and Mohammed it may have been different...

In the Designated Area (II)...

On Friday I went along to the Parliament protest to register my disgust at various items:

































There seemed to be slightly less people this time - only about 100 - but there was a lot of different people from last time, so maybe the word is spreading...

Some of my favourites:



We also had some political representation in the name of London's Lib Dem MEP Sarah Luford.



































Hopefully at the next one there'll be more of our elected representatives...

I've got a load more photos over on Flickr.

From now on it’s a monthly thing, taking place the third Wednesday of the month. The next one is on 18^th October, with the forms being handed in on 11^th October.

I’m actually thinking of going along to the next one, but not getting permission in advance. What I’ve noticed with the other two that I’ve been to is that the police don’t check whether you have the forms, as long as there’s quite a big group of you present. So, what I’m thinking of doing is not getting permission, but still go and protest, just to see what the police actually do… anyone else interested? Of course, there can’t bee too many of us without permission, as it’d ruin it completely, and, obviously, the police would have a record of the number of people who’ve been given permission and the numbers actually present.

Applying for Permission...

I went and handed in my form for next week’s protest – this time you have to protest against two things:

1. “Radiohead”: their song “No Surprises” contains the lyrics “Bring down the government/They don’t, they don’t speak for us” which I feel is apt…
2. “Pointless bureaucracy”: the fact that I have to spend my precious free time filling in a form and then having to traipse along to the police station to get them to sign and authorise it which also wastes their time.

While I was doing this I bumped into Davide of Nether-World and Blairwatch and we went to the pub for a few drinks and talked about various things…

On my way home, I got a call off the police! They said that they were unable to authorise my protest as I’d asked for permission to protest within the entire “Designate Area” which they said was not allowed! I then said “In that case, please can you change it to Parliament Square?” which was acceptable…

In the Designated Area...

Last week, I queued up to hand in my form for the Lone Protest (for which I was given permission). Unknown to me was that people were taking photos of us handing in our forms, and that one picture (from Davide on The Nether-World) did capture me in all my “glory”. There was one woman who gave her permission on a cake – I like it. Next time I’ll do summat other than fill in the form – anyone got a suggestion?

On Wednesday evening – sat at home killing time on the Internet, as it was the day before payday – I got an email off Tim Bloggerheads inviting me for a piss-up afterwards. After spending a few seconds considering the consequences: give up the (relative) anonymity he has built up over the past 16 months to meet people whose rantings and ravings he reads in exchange for alcohol. I realised, to quote that great philosopher Homer, “Ahh, beer! My one true weakness, my Achilles-heel if you will”, so, yeah!

On Thursday, after a “busy day” at work, I run to the train station to make my date with destiny. I got to the protest at 5:45pm but due to my permission letter, I’m unable to bring out my sign, as the permitted time hasn’t yet started, so I was just talking to people…

At 6pm Big Ben chimes and it starts – 200 people, all protesting different things, but at the same time and in the same place – lots of noise, from Brian Haw – who needs a car battery for his megaphone; has anyone got one they don’t need? – through to me “No to ID Cards”, as per my sign. Others I enjoyed were the campaign to ban Robbie Williams for crimes against music – which I wholeheartedly agree with – demanding improvements in public transport, namely the North London Line, people showing the absurdity of the law as people have been arrested for reading newspapers and the Socialist Wanker.

The other bloggers who I spoke to were Justin – protesting to ban everything, as well as to legalise everything [I’m now in possession of it. Justin left it in the pub and, as it would have been a waste of all the time and effort he put in, I decided to rescue it (this isn’t theft as he gave me permission to do it!). I got quite a lot of looks when I was walking back to the train station and I’m a bit surprised as I was holding it up on my shoulder within the Designated Area and so this could have been classed as an illegal protest]; Tim – demanding his £2000 from Transparent Tony (see here for the background), Rachel – demanding an inquiry to the 7^th July bombs and Davide – protesting against invasions of our privacy [I can't seem to find a photo with your sign, sorry!].

See here for my photos, while other people have put theirs on here, London Daily Photo, Chris King or on the official Mark Thomas website).

BBC London were there doing a report (I’m briefly in the background at 1:27.2) which has an argument between the organiser Mark Thomas and Brian Coleman, the Tory member of the London Assembly for Barnet & Camden (his view boils down to “Money is more important than freedom of expression.” Please, if he is your “elected representative” vote this guy out)

At 6:45 Tim announced that he had permission to march on Downing Street, in order to collect his money off our Dear Leader. We sent off and Tim used Rachel’s banner as a loudspeaker to get Bliar’s attention (stolen from Justin’s moblog). Unfortunately, our Dear Leader is too much of a deadbeat to pay up. [Tim, how about sticking an ASBO on him? Or, as you’re claiming money for services provided for him, sue his arse for breach of contract! Free legal advice: you’ve got 7 years from when the breach occurred to issue court proceedings. As you sent the invoice in 2003, you’ve got plenty of time!].

Then we went to Bliar’s local, the Red Lion – the pub opposite Downing Street – for many a drink, where we discussed politics and blogging (Chris King seems to have taken photos of the gang itself! Yay!). Nice to see that real-life is no different to t’internet life ;-)

Not everyone was impressed by our actions: the Devil’s Kitchen, who slags off the government more than anyone, is having a go at those of us who dare to protest against the government! Dickhead… all talk, no action…

Oh yeah, everyone there got a badge of honour. I wonder how many have gone on eBay?

Permission granted!

As you know I went to the Charing Cross Station on Thursday.

Well, this morning I received the following letter from the Metropolitan Police Force:

Re: Demonstration – ID Cards received 24 August 2006-08-26

Dear Mr. D-Notice,

I, Superintendent [some Copper], give authority under s. 134 Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 for your demonstration to proceed on 31 August 2006 between 6pm and 7pm in Parliament Square.

I do not intend to impose any conditions on your event.

In the event that your demonstration causes any of the following, the senior police officer in attendance may impose conditions on you and the participants

(a) Hindrance to any person wishing to enter or leave the Palace of Westminster,

(b) Hindrance to the proper operation of Parliament,

(c) Serious public disorder,

(d) Serious damage to property,

(e) Disruption to life in the community,

(f) A security risk in any part of the Designated Area

(g) Risk to safety of members of the public (including any taking part in the demonstration)

Yours sincerely,

[some Copper]

Yay!

Let’s see what happens!

Protest

Well, as promised, I went to the Charing Cross Police Station to apply for a protest within the "Designated Area", i.e. within 1 km of Parliament.

After being in the queue for 1 hour, briefly speaking to Mark Thomas and others - hello to the guy protesting to highlight the plight of the crayfish - I managed to get my form signed and stamped to enable me to protest aainst ID cards next Thursday, at 6 pm.

Now all I have to do is wait for the poice to send me a letter authorising my protest and seeing what restriction they put on it. I'm assuming only one placard and no loud-speakers...

Let's see what happens!

The Citizen Registration Programme

I know this is late – going on the date of the article, it was just after I’d moved down to the Village and so was without the t’internet – but I’ve only just discovered – via Blair Watch – the locations of the ID card registration centres.

Of interest to me are the ones for London, as well as the ones for back home Oop t’North-west and also north Wales, which are as follows:

Blackburn

I gown up in east Lancashire and I can have a real go at this.

They’re expecting one office – in Jack Straw’s constituency – to serve not only east Lancashire (Blackburn, Burnley, surrounding areas, total pop. approx 250,000), but it appears they’re also expecting it to serve central Lancashire (Preston, Chorley and possibly Bolton), which will have a greater population, and it appears they also want it to Blackpool (pop. 125,000), Morecambe and Lancaster (total pop. 200,000) which will be a real bastard to get to Blackburn from. From experience I know it’ll take the best part of an hour from Blackpool on the train, but at least it’s direct; for Morecambe and Lancaster you’re expecting people to travel for more than an hour and a half on the train (the road is a no-no, as it’s the M6!) with at least one change in Preston! That or they’re expecting you to travel to Kendal, i.e. the Lake District, which will be even worse for public transport, due to it being a rural area!

In total they expecting one office, in an area with bad public transport, to serve the best part of 1 million people!

Liverpool

Manchester

Obvious choices: biggest cities in the area and can catch a lot of the out-lying areas.

Wrexham

This is a bit of a strange choice. Yes it’d be useful for Chester & western Cheshire and north-Staffordshire, but what about people in the rest of north Wales? I’ve got family in north Wales and so I know how bad the public transport is: small, crappy buses, very slow trains (where they exist, i.e. not everywhere). Anywhere west of Rhyl and you’re fucked with this office, especially if you’re one of the island-dwellers (Anglsey/Ynys Mon). There is the possibility of using the one in Aberystwyth, but, again, the problems with public transport apply, possibly more so. They could use the “Remote Communities Service” which will consist of a webcam – nothing like using a secure system, with high resolution pictures! It’s ideal for ID cards!

As for the Village:

London

One centre?! One fucking centre?! One fucking centre to serve 8 million plus people?! As well as the out-lying suburbs? Are they serious? Fair enough there is the (very slight) possibility of those in western London using the Reading centre and those in the far south of London and Surrey using the Crawley one, but come on…

There’s a map on the locations of centres here.

The Lone Protestor

There's a plan to have simultaneous "lone demonstrations" within the 1 km SCOPA "Designated Area" from Rachel (also here):

A recent damn-fool law has made it illegal to protest anywhere near Parliament without official police permission, and comedian Mark Thomas is organising a stunt to highlight the danger and stupidity of having this law in a democracy.

Please note that taking part in this is 100% LEGAL, and the whole purpose of the stunt is to overload the system by dozens of people all asking for permission to protest all at the same time.

The law: Under section 132 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 [PDF] it is an offence to organise or take part in a demonstration in a public place within the “designated area” if authorisation has not been given by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. Participants may be subject to a fine of up to £1000 and “organizers” face up to a year in Jail...

Many people see this legislation as an assault on our civil liberties and human rights. It’s not always practical to plan a week in advance what government activities you may or may not disagree with. Sometimes a spontaneous response is called for. And surely the most appropriate place to demonstrate against the government’s actions is within the newly “Designated Area”, at the very core of this country’s democratic foundation.

Get the application form here (word document).

Meet on Thursday 24th August outside Charing Cross police station any time between: 5.30pm-6pm to hand in your SOCPA forms. The address is Agar Street, London, WC2N 4JP and a map is attached. You have to fill in form and hand it in to the police 1 week before you protest, so everyone has to turn up at the same time to give their forms to the Police. This will mean if 100 people turn up and apply for permission, then the unfortunate police have to license and approve 100 lone demonstrations... If you can’t make it to hand the forms in but want to demonstrate on the 31st, post them to: Ben Stern S2S Suite Z009 Old Truman Brewery 1 Brick Lane London E1 6QL.

The mass lone demonstrations will be 1 week later on Thursday 31st August and will again be at 6:00pm for 1 hour.

5.30 - 6pm Thursday 24th August, show up at the same time as other "lone protesters" at Charing Cross Police Station.

6pm Thursday 31st August, show up and protest about your personal issue in Parliament Square.

See you at the Police Station!

Cloned Biometric Passports/ID cards

From Wired:

A German computer security consultant has shown that he can clone the electronic passports that the United States and other countries are beginning to distribute this year.

The controversial e-passports contain radio frequency ID, or RFID, chips that the U.S. State Department and others say will help thwart document forgery. But Lukas Grunwald, a security consultant with DN-Systems in Germany and an RFID expert, says the data in the chips is easy to copy.

Grunwald says it took him only two weeks to figure out how to clone the passport chip. Most of that time he spent reading the standards for e-passports that are posted on a website for the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations body that developed the standard. He tested the attack on a new European Union German passport, but the method would work on any country's e-passport, since all of them will be adhering to the same ICAO standard.

I've already posted that this has been done to the Dutch ID cards, so corroboration about how they're a complete waste of time.

Meet the new boss...

From the Observer:

Gordon Brown is planning a massive expansion of the ID cards project that would widen surveillance of everyday life by allowing high-street businesses to share confidential information with police databases.

The government doesn’t seem to listen to anyone: no-one wants ID cards.

Far from intending to dump ID cards once he is in Downing Street, Brown is quietly studying how biometric technology - identifying people by unique markers such as fingerprints and iris patterns - could be expanded over the next 20 years to fight crime.

So much for Gordy being different to the Dear Leader… time for a new government.

The plan would make the ID cards scheme cheaper, since companies would pay for access to the national identity register - a government database of biometric information being compiled for the ID cards programme. Brown's plans belie reports that the Treasury, concerned about the cost of ID cards, would ditch them when he became Prime Minister. 'It's almost the opposite - Gordon's thinking about ID cards is that it's part of the answer but there's a much wider picture,' said a source close to him.

Well that’s one way to back the millions… er, sorry, BILLIONS they’re going to spend on them before the whole thing falls apart…

Deja-vu, all over again...

From the Sunday Times:

IRAN is seeking to import large consignments of bomb-making uranium from the African mining area that produced the Hiroshima bomb, an investigation has revealed.

A United Nations report, dated July 18, said there was “no doubt” that a huge shipment of smuggled uranium 238, uncovered by customs officials in Tanzania, was transported from the Lubumbashi mines in the Congo.

Iraq was alleged to be obtaining uranium – the old “Yellow cake” – from Niger…

It has also emerged that terror cells backed by Iran may be prepared to mount attacks against nuclear power plants in Britain. Intelligence circulating in Whitehall suggests that sleeper cells linked to Tehran have been conducting reconnaissance at some nuclear sites in preparation for a possible attack.

The build up seems to be underway…

Iran

From Op-Ed News:

In the last few days, I learned from a credible and informed source that a former senior Labour government Minister, who continues to be well-connected to British military and security officials, confirms that Britain and the United States"... will go to war with Iran before the end of the year."

Yay! That’ll learn ‘em for having a Euro-denominated oil bourse!

ID Cards are a balls-up: Official!

From the Sunday Times:

TONY BLAIR’S flagship identity cards scheme is set to fail and may not be introduced for a generation, according to leaked Whitehall e-mails from the senior officials responsible for the multi-billion-pound project.

The problems are so serious that ministers have been forced to draw up plans for a scaled-down “face-saving” version to meet their pledge of phasing in the cards from 2008.

However, civil servants say there is no evidence that even this compromise is “remotely feasible” and accuse ministers of “ignoring reality” by pressing ahead.

One official warns of a “botched operation” that could put back the introduction of ID cards for a generation. He added: “I conclude that we are setting ourselves up to fail.” Another admits he is planning Home Office strategy around the possibility that the scheme could be “canned completely”.
In one e-mail the prime minister is personally blamed for the fiasco with his proposal for a scaled-down or “early variant” version. “It was a Mr Blair apparently who wanted the ‘early variant’ card. Not my idea,” writes a top Home Office civil servant.

They reveal that the government is “rethinking” the entire scheme with an alternative “face-saving” compromise, which Smith blames on Blair. This “early variant” plan appears to involve collecting and storing biometric data on a temporary ID register but makes no mention of actually using it on cards.

However, officials doubt that this will work. Foord writes: “Just because ministers say do something does not mean we ignore reality — which is what seems to have happened on ID cards until [the contracts were due] to be issued and then reality could not be ignored any longer.”

The emails in question are available here.

Blairwatch has a good analysis. As they say, this must be why they’re stopping Government reports from being published and are trying to clamp down on people leaking things to the media – shoot the messenger and all that…

Craig Murray vs the Foreign Office

Craig Murray, the UK’s former ambassador to Uzbekistan and for of Blackburn’s beloved MP, Jack Straw, has finally managed to publish his book.

However, due to copyright laws, the juiciest documents are not in the printed version, only on the Internet (as per his torture memos). As a result, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office are trying to get an injunction to get them removed, not that they’ve owt to hide, of course…

A defence in an attempted suppression of information is that the information is publicly available… which is where blogs come in. In response to the Government’s actions, various blogs are publishing the documents on their site.

Due to technical reasons, I'm not able to publish them on here (i.e. i don't know how to, but if someone's wants to email me with instructions I'd be grateful.). Until then I suggest you go to Many Angry Gerbils and get 'em off there.

UPDATE: Thanks to a comment by A Big Carrot & a Small Stick on the Blairwatch site, I’ve come across this free uploading site, so I’m able to help out. Yay!

1. FCO Comment
   
2. IMF Telegram
   
3. Declaration
4. Speech
5. Hill negotiation
6. Michael Woods memo of 13th March 2003
7. Telegram of 18th March 2003 – US Foreign Policy
8. Letter from Simon Butt dated 26th June 2003
9. Exchange of emails with Linda Duffield
10. Colin Reynolds report of 26th June 2003
11. Minutes of meeting with Howard Drake
12. Letter from British businessmen in Tashkent
13. Email to Kate Smith
14. Minute of 26th September 2003
15. Telegram

The whole lot are also available as a Torrent file.

Nothing to see here...

From the BBC:

The government is battling to ensure that estimates of the benefits and risks of identity cards remain secret.

The freedom of information watchdog ordered the Department of Work and Pensions to publish its findings about how the cards could fight ID fraud.

Now the department has decided to appeal against the information commissioner's ruling.

Not that they’ve got anything to hide…

NO EVIDENCE LINKING BIN LADEN WITH 11/9!

I came across this via the comments on Americablog re Bin Laden's re-appearance (strangely, after the US Supreme Court's & our own High Court's decisions on Guantanamo Bay and Control Orders repectively). Apologies if it's been mentiond elsewhere, I've been distracted due to the World Cup...

On June 5, 2006, the Muckraker Report contacted the FBI Headquarters, (202) 324-3000, to learn why Bin Laden’s Most Wanted poster did not indicate that Usama was also wanted in connection with 9/11. The Muckraker Report spoke with Rex Tomb, Chief of Investigative Publicity for the FBI. When asked why there is no mention of 9/11 on Bin Laden’s Most Wanted web page, Tomb said, “The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.”

What the fuck's TWAT for then (apart from being an excuse to take away our freedom and give the government even more power)?

ID Cards delayed

From the Sunday Telegraph:

The roll-out of the Government's controversial identity card scheme is set to be delayed by a Home Office failure to begin the procurement process on schedule.

The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that the process of allocating contracts to private companies to build and manage the ID card scheme was due to begin towards the end of this month. However, the starting date has now been put back to September at the earliest.

A senior executive at one company that has already expressed an interest in carrying out work on the programme said: "We still know nothing about what the Home Office requires of us.”

Otherwise the Government would have to come up with some justifications which will not be destroyed straight-away… also everyone would have an idea how much it’ll cost us.

Phil Booth, the national co--ordinator of the No 2 ID Campaign, said: "Having forced legislation through, saying it was of the utmost importance to national security and public services, it seems bizarre that the Home Office is taking so long to issue specifications when they have had truly years to prepare them and having said it has consulted widely with the private sector."