Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary welcomed the Government’s commissioning of a report on the role of EU nationals in the UK economy and society and said:
“There is far too much heat and not enough light about immigration, so any truly objective and well-informed analysis must be welcome.
“We already know that immigrants, both EU and non-EU, make a huge contribution to the economy and to wider society. They occupy both high-skilled, high-wage jobs and lower-skilled, lower paid ones, adding value across a wide range of economic sectors. They help make the UK more internationally competitive, and sectors with staff shortages, such as the NHS, social care and agriculture, would be in serious difficulty without them.
“The report should be published. There must be no repeat of the buried Home Office reports into international students, or the Saudi funding of terrorism. And there should be no attempt to reform the immigration system until the report has been published and debated.”
Ends
read moreA total of 124 suspects, including seven Taiwan residents, have been arrested in southwest China’s Sichuan Province and Cambodia for cross-border telecom fraud. In February, major telecom fraud cases were reported to police in Sichuan. Suspects, disgu… read more
Much of government is a great recycling machine. It collects huge sums from taxpayers, and redistributes money to people, companies and institutions that it judges worthy or in need of it. Much of Parliamentary debate is about who should receive these grants, and about whether they are paid enough.
The most contentious grants are those to foreigners. The Coalition, the present Conservative government and the Labour Opposition all defend the idea that 0.7% of our GDP or 1.7% of our total public spending should be granted to overseas governments and companies operating in overseas places where incomes are low. The UK is one of the few countries to meet this UN target, with rich countries like the US and Germany refusing to get anywhere near it.
In order to hit the target there are times when ODA has made grants which many people and some of the press and media have thought foolish or inappropriate. There are rules over what is allowable as an overseas aid payment under the UN rules. There has been considerable argument within government over what should legitimately be included, and what flexibility there is within the UN rules.
For the rest of this article I am accepting that the current Parliament has no wish to repeal the legislation requiring us to spend 0.7%. Some of you may write in again to complain, but the reality is this is now widely accepted across the parties. I wish to explore what is and what should be included within this total.
The UK, for example, undertakes humanitarian missions using its armed forces. When they are called out to assist with an ebola outbreak in Africa I think all their costs for the duration of that mission including overheads and salaries as well as the accepted marginal costs should be charged to the Overseas Aid budget. What better example of good aid could there be, than UK personnel giving direct relief to the sick in a low income country.
The UK also often uses its military to undertake peace keeping missions in low income countries. Keeping the peace is fundamental to the success of any aid programme and programme of economic recovery. One of the main requirements to allow better growth and higher incomes in low income countries is stronger law and order. Shouldn’t this also be fully allowable as a charge against the overseas aid budget?
The UK gives refuge to many people fleeing violence, and to many economic migrants who have come from low income countries. Some of the initial expenditure is allowable as aid. Shouldn’t all the set up costs of a refugee be part of our aid budget? We need to provide an extra home, extra school place, extra surgery and hospital capacity.
read more
China’s Defense Ministry released a new video in a bid to showcase the country’s rising military capabilities two weeks ahead of the 90th birthday of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The video, named “PLA Today,” is China’s latest bid to show the world how far its military capacity has increased since its inception nine decades ago, and also how far it would go to preserve the country’s hard-won peace and order.
The 16-minute English-language video, with Chinese subtitles, displayed a host of unmanned “smart” military vehicles, reconnaissance robots and drones, followed by footage of live-fire drills in the South China Sea and the East China Sea in July last year.
The video also sought to reaffirm the PLA’s commitment to “safeguarding world peace and regional security,” by highlighting its efforts in conducting UN peacekeeping tasks and escort missions around the Gulf of Aden, with footage of crew members from foreign ships saying “Thank you China” after being rescued by Chinese forces.
“Peace is a core value of the Chinese civilization,” the video said, “China pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature.”
The video has aroused patriotism online.
read more