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UK readying charter flights to rescue trapped Brits from Israel as Iranian missiles fall & US weighs strikes

UK readying charter flights to rescue trapped Brits from Israel as Iranian missiles fall & US weighs strikes

The Sun20-06-2025
UK nationals are to be evacuated from Israel by emergency chartered flights from Tel Aviv.
British authorities are scrambling to arrange the planes after they were slammed for being too slow as the crisis spirals.
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The UK government is working with the Israeli authorities to arrange transport after Sir Keir Starmer urged all sides to reach a diplomatic outcome.
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Paul Weller sues former accountants after being dropped over Gaza statements
Paul Weller sues former accountants after being dropped over Gaza statements

The Independent

time4 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Paul Weller sues former accountants after being dropped over Gaza statements

Musician Paul Weller is suing his former accountants after they stopped working with the singer after public statements alleging Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, according to a legal letter. The former frontman of The Jam has filed a discrimination claim against Harris and Trotter after the firm ended their professional relationship after more than 30 years. In a pre-action letter seen by the PA news agency, lawyers for Weller say the singer-songwriter was told in March that the accountants and tax advisers would no longer work with the 67-year-old or his companies. According to the letter, a WhatsApp message from a partner at the firm included: 'It's well known what your political views are in relation to Israel, the Palestinians and Gaza, but we as a firm are offended at the assertions that Israel is committing any type of genocide. 'Everyone is entitled to their own views, but you are alleging such anti-Israel views that we as a firm with Jewish roots and many Jewish partners are not prepared to work with someone who holds these views.' Lawyers for Weller claim that by ending their services, the firm unlawfully discriminated against the singer's protected philosophical beliefs including that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that Palestine should be recognised as a nation state. Weller said: 'I've always spoken out against injustice, whether it's apartheid, ethnic cleansing, or genocide. What's happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe. 'I believe they have the right to self-determination, dignity, and protection under international law, and I believe Israel is committing genocide against them. That must be called out. 'Silencing those who speak this truth is not just censorship – it's complicity. 'I'm taking legal action not just for myself, but to help ensure that others are not similarly punished for expressing their beliefs about the rights of the Palestinian people.' Weller will donate any damages he receives to humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza, the legal letter also states. Cormac McDonough, a lawyer at Hodge Jones and Allen, representing Weller, said that his case 'reflects a wider pattern of attempts to silence artists and public figures who speak out in support of Palestinian rights'. Mr McDonough added: 'Within the music industry especially, we are seeing increasing efforts to marginalise those who express solidarity with the people of Gaza.'

The real difficulty ministers face is that the Epping hotel judgment is a clean and fair application of the law: ANDREW TETTENBORN
The real difficulty ministers face is that the Epping hotel judgment is a clean and fair application of the law: ANDREW TETTENBORN

Daily Mail​

time35 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

The real difficulty ministers face is that the Epping hotel judgment is a clean and fair application of the law: ANDREW TETTENBORN

There's a beautiful irony in the Epping hotel injunction. The Government's immigration policy of putting asylum seekers in hotels in some of the less well-off parts of the country has received a major blow from the legal class that Keir Starmer, Lord Hermer and many of their learned friends themselves inhabit. And it's a blow that sees the long-term viability of the Government's immigration policy unravel, as councils up and down the country will seek to use this ruling to shut down their own troublesome migrant hotels. The difficulty for the Government is that Mr Justice Eyre's decision is a clean, fair, straightforward application of the law. He has ruled that, if planning permission exists for a hotel, it's a blatant breach of planning law to use the premises as a long-term asylum reception centre. Who'd have thought it? At bottom, it's no different from a convoy of travellers breaking planning law by parking caravans on a public recreation ground, or a farmer building a holiday camp on an arable field. The courts regularly issue stiff injunctions in cases like these, and rightly so. But Starmer and the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, were surprisingly complacent, imagining that somehow this didn't apply to their own activities. When the penny dropped at the last minute, they scrambled to influence the result, sending barrister Edward Brown KC to argue that the local authority 'should, in fact, have given some consideration to the wider public interest in this application'. In other words, that an injunction should not be allowed because it would make life very difficult for the Government. Counsel for the hotelier took much the same line, effectively ignoring the concerns of the local people who had been protesting outside The Bell ever since an Ethiopian asylum seeker lodging there was charged with sexual assault against a 14-year-old schoolgirl. 'Fears as to an increase of crime associated with asylum seekers or a danger to schools are common,' he said. 'But that does not make them well founded.' The hotelier's barrister was, of course, doing his job. Nevertheless, such legal arguments blithely take no notice of local problems caused by uncontrolled immigration and the small boats crisis, which has seen more than 50,000 undocumented illegal migrants crossing the Channel to Britain in the 13 months since Labour came to power. Until now, the Home Office has seemed content to dump the problem on councils such as Epping, where voters traditionally mistrust Labour. Now those voters have rightly dumped it back on the Government. What seriously spooks the Home Office is that Epping will not be a lone case. Across the kingdom we could now see multiple injunctions, forcing the Home Secretary in short order to relocate tens of thousands of asylum seekers currently in hotels – there are more than 32,000 according to figures released in March. And it is urgent: The High Court has given the Government only three weeks, until September 12, to vacate The Bell. The Government must act, and fast. One option might be to set up more dedicated reception centres, as in Germany and France. Another is to deter small-boat crossings by making it more difficult for illegal migrants to enter the black economy. The ball is firmly, and legally, in its court.

Kneecap rapper to appear in court for alleged support of terrorist group
Kneecap rapper to appear in court for alleged support of terrorist group

Glasgow Times

time43 minutes ago

  • Glasgow Times

Kneecap rapper to appear in court for alleged support of terrorist group

Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in November last year. Demonstrations in support of the rapper have been organised outside Westminster Magistrates' Court in London where he is due to appear on Wednesday, as well as in Dublin. The Metropolitan Police has imposed conditions limiting where the demonstration outside the court can take place on Wednesday, saying they were needed to 'prevent serious disruption'. In response the rap group described this move as a 'calculated political decision' that was 'designed to try and portray support for Kneecap as somehow troublesome' and 'asked supporters to go out of your way to be compliant with all instructions issued, irrespective of how pitiful'. O hAnnaidh received a rockstar welcome when he appeared at the same court in June, supported by fellow bandmates Naoise O Caireallain and J J O Dochartaigh. He was greeted by a festival-like atmosphere for his first court appearance, with dozens of fans waving flags, playing drums and one supporter setting off a smoke canister. The court previously heard the 27-year-old defendant is 'well within his rights' to voice his opinions on the Israel-Palestine conflict, but the alleged incident at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, was a 'wholly different thing'. O hAnnaidh is yet to enter a plea to the charge.

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