Mick Hartley

Blog

  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Homelessness and Rough Sleeping

    Ah yes.

    Britain's homelessness minister increased the rent on a house she owns by hundreds of pounds, allegedly "within weeks" of the previous tenants' contract ending.

    The i Paper, external reported that four tenants who rented a house owned by Rushanara Ali in East London were sent an email last November giving them four months' notice that their lease would not be renewed.

    It says the property was re-listed shortly after the tenants moved out, at a rent that was £700 a month higher.

    Ali is Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Homelessness and Rough Sleeping. A spokesman said: "Rushanara takes her responsibilities seriously and complied with all relevant legal requirements."

    Update: She's resigned. Remaining in post would be a "distraction from the ambitious work of this government".

  • Staged photos in Gaza

    Hamas, “otherwise, the impression easily arises that it's propaganda or a deliberate fabrication, and that has consequences”.

    In the public's perception, these photographers are then placed close to combatants. That's brutally dangerous,” he said. “Once a name is circulating, these people receive death threats every second.”

    So we should happily accept these staged photographs to protect the photographers? But of course he's conceding the point here: everything that comes out of Gaza is controlled by Hamas, under threat of death. We just have to pretend that's not true.

  • Gametic bigotry

    lestinian activists which the Israeli Ministry of Health characterised as “bordering on blood libel".

  • the case of Sir Roy Meadows.
  •  railing against "the axis of Anglo-American imperialism" at a 2006 rally in Manchester.

Still editor-in-chief though.

Added, from Marcus Evans:

In 2019, after resigning as governor of @TaviAndPort [the Tavistock Clinic] ,@TheLancet contacted me for an interview about my decision. I raised concerns about the Trust’s promotion of unevidenced, sometimes irreversible medical interventions on children, despite staff and parent complaints. The journal initially showed interest.

I am grateful to you @jonkay, for editing a piece I wrote for @Quillette, but The Lancet editor informed me the article was dropped without explanation.

Disappointing from a journal that should prioritize medical ethics over ideology. Like the @BMA, many medical institutions have lost their moral compass, and public confidence is declining.

  • Non-binary and aboriginal

    to start.

    Added:

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  • Stolen, looted, or resold

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  • Trouble at the dog food restaurant

    North Korea's dog days (previously) are not going well:

    A state-run dog meat restaurant in North Korea has been shut down after about 10 customers suffered food poisoning during the peak summer dining season, with authorities blaming the incident on inadequate water and electricity supplies rather than just poor sanitation.

    The outbreak occurred at a restaurant operated by Sunchon city’s commercial department in South Pyongan province during sambok, the traditional three hottest days of summer when dog meat consumption typically soars. All customers who ate at the establishment on July 12 developed severe symptoms within hours, including stomach pain, fever, diarrhea, and vomiting….

    The restaurant near Sunchon’s market was immediately ordered to close the following day as city officials launched a joint investigation with the hygiene quarantine office to determine the cause.

    The investigation revealed systemic problems beyond basic food safety violations. Customers reported that the dog meat gave off a strong odor, while authorities discovered that ingredients requiring refrigeration were left at room temperature and eating utensils weren’t properly cleaned due to frequent water outages.

    Restaurant employees told investigators they had to fetch water from a distant well because of inadequate municipal supply. Even more problematic, they were forced to use a refrigerator at another business—a 30-minute walk away—because their own facility lacked sufficient electricity to operate cooling equipment.

    Well, you can see the problem….

  • Supporting Beth

    The early days of the Sandie Peggie case:

    NHS Fife’s bid to resolve the changing room clash between Sandie Peggie and Beth Upton was thrown into disarray when the row exploded into the public eye.

    The health board had urged the Kirkcaldy nurse to stay quiet about her suspension while she was being investigated.

    But emails show how worried NHS Fife staff reacted when it became clear Ms Peggie’s story was about to hit national headlines.

    Ms Peggie did not initially go to the media when she was suspended following her confrontation with Dr Upton on Christmas Eve in 2023.

    But she did contact Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy Alba MP Neale Hanvey, who took an interest in the case.

    Private messages from Ms Peggie to a friend show Mr Hanvey was lobbying the Victoria Hospital nurse to go public with her ordeal.

    “I don’t mind who knows the truth,” Ms Peggie wrote….

    Emails show health board staff were fearful of the impact this would have on Dr Upton.

    But entirely unconcerned about the impact on Sandie Peggie of having to change in front of a man.

    They were particularly worried about a press release from Mr Hanvey referring to the Victoria Hospital doctor as a “trans identifying male”.

    Nicola Robertson, director of nursing, wrote on June 28: “I am concerned for the member of staff to whom this is referring and wondered if anyone might be able to give her the heads up this press release is coming from a parliamentary candidate.

    “The terminology is completely wrong and she should not be referred to as a ‘trans identifying male’.

    “I worry this may cause additional upset.”

    So so desperate to protect Upton from the horror of being misgendered. But of course a ‘trans identifying male’ is exactly what he is.

    Belinda Morgan, the emergency care general manager, flagged Mr Hanvey’s press statement to Kate Searle, Dr Upton’s supervisor.

    “I know you are supporting Beth so not sure if you want to give her the heads up about this and offer any support required,” she wrote.

    Dr Searle replied three days later, after the story had broken.

    “Oh dear,” the consultant wrote.

    “This is so awful.”

    Oh dear indeed.

  • Stoning women

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    "If any woman is suspected of having relations with a man before marriage they will be taken to holes in the desert and crowds will throw stones at them until they die."

  • The Hamas videos

    g Jews has benefits. That carrying out a pogrom can be fruitful. That killing more Jews in one day than anyone else has since the Nazis has its rewards. Including the reward of nationhood. Starmer’s promise to recognise Palestine proves ‘victory’ is ‘closer than we expected’, gloated Hamas. Ghazi Hamad went further, cheering Starmer’s promise as ‘one of the fruits of 7 October’.

  • Stealing Gaza aid

    N. Office for Project Services, shows that around 87%, or 1,753 of the 2,013 aid trucks that entered Gaza since May 19 did not reach their final destinations, with the aid being stolen either "peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors," as first reported by Israel's news agency, TPS-IL.

    The data, which showed that a record 90 trucks carrying some 1,695 tons of aid were looted on May 31 alone, comes as shocking photos of emaciated Palestinian children – some of which were later proven to be children with pre-existing health conditions used as propaganda by Hamas – have gone viral.

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