Corbyn sets out a ‘better way to live together’ in foreign policy revamp

Political reporter(wp):

Jeremy Corbyn has urged Britain to “walk the hard yards to a better way to live together on this planet” as he set out Labour’s foreign policy in an election campaign speech.

Corbyn said a Labour government would pursue what he called a “triple commitment” to defence, development and diplomacy, and seek to resolve potential conflicts through political action rather than relying on military force.

Speaking to an audience of foreign policy experts at the Chatham House thinktank in London, the Labour leader and longtime peace campaigner described how his personal views on armed conflict had been fuelled by hearing from his parents about the horrors of the second world war, and seeing graphic images of the Vietnam war.

“My generation grew up under the shadow of the cold war. On television, through the 1960s and into the 70s, the news was dominated by Vietnam. I was haunted by images of civilians fleeing chemical weapons used by the United States.

“I didn’t imagine then that nearly 50 years later we would see chemical weapons still being used against innocent civilians. What an abject failure. How is it that history keeps repeating itself?”

With Theresa May’s Conservatives painting Labour as soft on defence, party strategists are keen to avoid the perception that Corbyn would refuse to use armed force in any circumstances.

But they believe his record of opposing ill-fated military interventions, including in Iraq, will play well with many voters. He criticised what he called “regime-change wars”, many of which he said had not worked.

Corbyn reconfirmed Labour’s commitment to renewing the Trident nuclear weapon system – which was agreed by the party’s conference last September – but underlined his own personal concerns about their use.

“I am often asked if as prime minister I would order the use of nuclear weapons. It’s an extraordinary question when you think about it: would you order the indiscriminate killing of millions of people? Would you risk such extensive contamination of the planet that no life could exist across large parts of the world? It would mean world leaders had already triggered a spiral of catastrophe for humankind,” he said.

Asked to confirm whether that would mean like-for-like replacement of the four nuclear-armed submarines required to maintain a continuous at-sea deterrent, he said: “That is the decision we will inherit as a Labour government and that is what the position is.”

But he went on to say Labour would hold a defence review, which he did not want to pre-empt. “We cannot obviously decide what a review would decide or it wouldn’t be a review.”

Asked after his speech whether there were past armed conflicts he believed had been justified, Corbyn said few people would argue against the second world war. He also referred to President Dwight Eisenhower’s final television address in 1961, which warned of the “unwarranted influence by the military-industrial complex”.

He added that the world was now a more dangerous place than at the height of the cold war.

Corbyn also pledged a Labour government would immediately review the presence of troops in Estonia, as well as the UK’s role in the conflict in Syria.

The Labour leader accused the US president, Donald Trump, of recklessly escalating geopolitical tensions, including with North Korea, and criticised Theresa May for forming what he called a “coalition of risk and insecurity with Donald Trump”.

“The new US president seems determined to add to the dangers by recklessly escalating the confrontation with North Korea, unilaterally launching missile strikes on Syria, opposing President Obama’s nuclear arms deal with Iran, and backing a new nuclear arms race,” he said, suggesting that a Labour government would have a more cautious relationship with the Trump White House.

The event was an effort to get Labour’s general election campaign back on track after a chaotic two days in which a draft of the party’s manifesto was leaked wholesale to newspapers.

Corbyn was accompanied at Chatham House by key frontbench figures including the shadow attorney general, Shami Chakrabarti, and the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry. However, the shadow defence secretary, Nia Griffith, was not present – she had earlier clashed with the Labour leadership over the drafting of the party’s manifesto.

NHS hospitals across England hit by large-scale cyber-attack

Staff reporter(wp):

Hospitals across England have been hit by a large-scale cyber-attack, the NHS has confirmed, which has locked staff out of their computers and forced many trusts to divert emergency patients.

The IT systems of NHS sites across the country appear to have been simultaneously hit, with a pop-up message demanding a ransom in exchange for access to the PCs. NHS Digital said it was aware of the problem and would release more details soon.

Details of patient records and appointment schedules, as well as internal phone lines and emails, have all been rendered inaccessible.

NHS Digital said: “A number of NHS organisations have reported to NHS Digital that they have been affected by a ransomware attack which is affecting a number of different organisations.

“The investigation is at an early stage but we believe the malware variant is Wanna Decryptor. At this stage we do not have any evidence that patient data has been accessed. We will continue to work with affected organisations to confirm this.

“NHS Digital is working closely with the National Cyber Security Centre, the Department of Health and NHS England to support affected organisations and to recommend appropriate mitigations.

“This attack was not specifically targeted at the NHS and is affecting organisations from across a range of sectors.

“Our focus is on supporting organisations to manage the incident swiftly and decisively, but we will continue to communicate with NHS colleagues and will share more information as it becomes available.”

According to reports, affected hospitals include those run by East and North Hertfordshire NHS trust, Barts Health in London, Essex Partnership university NHS trusts, the university hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS foundation trust, Southport and Ormskirk hospital NHS trust and Blackpool teaching hospital NHS foundation trust.

More reports of affected hospitals are continuing to stream in, as well as claims that GP surgeries are coming down with the virus, which demands a payment of $300 to release files it claims have been encrypted. The NHS has been unable to give a full list of the sites affected.

British law enforcement believes the attack is criminal in nature, as opposed to be a cyber attack by a foreign power, and is being treated as serious but without national security implications.

The National Crime Agency, which is Britain’s version of the FBI, was taking the lead in dealing with the investigation into the attack. Investigators believe the attack is significant with many computers affected across the country.

A spokesman for the National Cyber Security Centre said: “We are aware of a cyber incident and are working with NHS digital and the NCA to investigate.”

In a message to a WT reporter, one NHS IT worker said: “At approximately 12.30pm we experienced a problem with our email servers crashing. Following this a lot of our clinical systems and patient systems were reported to have gone down.

“A bitcoin virus pop-up message had been introduced on to the network asking users to pay $300 to be able to access their PCs. You cannot get past this screen. This followed with an internal major incident being declared and advised all trust staff to shut down all PCs in the trust and await further instructions.

“This is affecting the east of England and number of other trusts. This is the largest outage of this nature I’ve seen in the six years I’ve been employed with the NHS.”

Another NHS worker, who works at an Essex hospital but asked to remain anonymous, said: “We got some ransomware that came through on the computers at about two o’clock. We were told to shut down, take out network cables and unplug the phones. A message came up for just one of our team about the fact that all the files would be wiped in two hours unless we $300 in bitcoins.”

She confirmed that the image that appeared on her colleague’s screen was the same as one that has already been circulated on Twitter, which says: “Ooops, your files have been encrypted!

“Many of your documents, photos, videos, databases and other files are no longer accessible because they have been encrypted. Maybe you are busy looking for a way to recover your files, but do not waste your time. Nobody can recover your files without our decryption service.”

The screen tells users to send $300 worth of bitcoin to a bitcoin wallet address. It adds: “You only have three days to submit the payment. After that the price will be doubled. Also if you don’t pay in seven days, you won’t be able to recover your files forever.”

One person who appeared to be an NHS worker posted an image purportedly of the message that the virus was showing on affected computers.

A Barts spokesman said it was experiencing “major IT disruption” and delays at all four of its hospitals, The Royal London, St Bartholomew’s, Whipps Cross and Newham. He said: “We have activated our major incident plan to make sure we can maintain the safety and welfare of patients.

“We are very sorry that we have to cancel routine appointments, and would ask members of the public to use other NHS services wherever possible. Ambulances are being diverted to neighbouring hospitals.”

GP surgeries across Liverpool and parts of Greater Manchester also appeared to have been affected by the cyber-attack.

The NHS Liverpool clinical commissioning group said: “Please be aware the NHS is experiencing serious IT problems today. Please only contact your GP surgery or hospital in a genuine emergency.”

One Liverpool GP, John Caldwell, said he had “no access to record systems or results” and described the disruption as “very limiting”. Dr Chris Mimnagh, a GP in Liverpool, told the Guardian that his surgery had “severed links” to the wider NHS network as a precaution.

He said: “Unable to access our clinical system – as a precaution our area has severed links to the wider NHS, which means no access to our national systems, no computers means no records, no prescriptions, no results, we are dealing with urgent problems only, our patients are being very understanding so far.”

A spokesman for the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen university hospitals trust said it was “aware that there’s an issue nationally and we’re reviewing our IT systems”.

A spokeswoman for Central Manchester university hospitals, the largest NHS trust in Greater Manchester, said she was “genuinely not sure” if they had been affected and that they were investigating.

A GP surgery in Bury, Greater Manchester, said all networks in the region had been affected. Peel GPs said on Twitter: “All Greater Manchester networks down – we cannot access any patient info plz RT @NHSBuryCCG.”

Doctors have been posting on Twitter about what has been happening to their systems.

A screengrab of a instant message conversation circulated by one doctor says: “So our hospital is down … We got a message saying your computers are now under their control and pay a certain amount of money. And now everything is gone.”

East and North Hertfordshire NHS trust said in a statement: “Today (Friday, 12 May 2017), the trust has experienced a major IT problem, believed to be caused by a cyber attack.

“Immediately on discovery of the problem, the trust acted to protect its IT systems by shutting them down; it also meant that the trust’s telephone system is not able to accept incoming calls.

“The trust is postponing all non-urgent activity for today and is asking people not to come to A&E - please ring NHS111 for urgent medical advice or 999 if it is a life-threatening emergency.

“To ensure that all back-up processes and procedures were put in place quickly, the trust declared a major internal incident to make sure that patients already in the trust’s hospitals continued to receive the care they need.”

The attack comes as several Spanish companies, including the telecoms giant Telefónica, have also been targeted by a “massive ransomware attack”, according to Spain’s national cyber-security centre. The attack appears to present the same message to users as those targeting the NHS.

In a statement released following an apparent wave of attacks on Friday morning, the National Cryptology Centre said a cyber assault had been launched “against various organisations”, affecting Windows systems and corrupting networks and archives.

A message from hackers warned that files would be deleted on 19 May unless a ransom of $300 in bitcoins was paid per targeted computer. It also said that the ransom would rise if payment had not been received by 15 May.

The ransomware used in the Spanish attacks is a version of the WannaCry virus, which encrypts sensitive user data, the National Cryptology Centre said. Telefónica confirmed there had been “a cybersecurity incident” affecting the intranet of some computers at its Madrid headquarters.

Family of Evha Jannath tell of grief at death of 'beloved' girl who died in fall from ride

Pic:Theme park tragedy Evha Jannath, 11
Staff reporter(wp/es):

The family of an 11-year-old girl who died after falling from a theme park water ride while on a school trip today paid tribute to a “quiet and pretty girl”.

Evha Jannath, from Leicester, had celebrated her birthday just four days before tragedy struck, her devastated uncle said.

She is said to have plunged into the water yesterday afternoon as she stood up to change seats on the Splash Canyon ride at Drayton Manor, in Tamworth, Staffordshire.

Evha's parents Suable and Nuran Jannath said in a statement: "Yesterday our world was torn apart by the news that our daughter and sister Evha, had lost her life in tragic circumstances, following a school trip to Drayton Manor Park.

"Evha was a beautiful little girl who was full of love and always smiling. Words cannot describe the pain and loss we feel, we are devastated that we will not see our beautiful little girl again.

"We ask that you allow us to grieve in private and deal with our loss as a family."

The girl, who attended Jameah Girls Academy in Leicester, was then “dragged under the water by the current”, witnesses said.

Uncle Abdul Hadi told the WT: “She is the only daughter of my sister and turned 11 on 5th May, [when it] was her birthday.

“It’s a very difficult time for my sister and my family. She was a very quiet and pretty girl.”

He added: “She is my beloved niece. Please everyone pray for her.”

Evha was recovered from the water and received advanced life support from ambulance crews before she was flown to Birmingham Children’s Hospital where she died.

A friend of Evha said the girl had almost missed the day out because she had been ill in the run-up to the trip.

Drayton Manor remained shut today as a mark of respect while investigators from the Health and Safety Executive probed the scene.

The school also remained closed for the day following yesterday’s accident.

Headteacher Erfana Bora said today it had been a "terrible tragedy".

She said: "She was a lovely, sweet-natured girl and she was loved by everyone at the school."

"As a school and as a community, we are trying to make sense of this terrible tragedy," she added.

According to one parent at the Jameah Academy, the girl fell from one of the boats when it hit a rock.

She said: “My daughter said there was four other girls on the same boat with the girl and the teacher’s boat was behind the girls.

“When the girl got up to change seats, just then it hit a rock and she got knocked out of the boat and fell in the water and the water currents dragged her in.

“The kids started screaming and told the staff at the park that their friend has fallen in the water.”

The brother of another pupil in the boat said: “My sister was saying that Eva stood up in the boat and looked like she was moving seats.

“Then she looked back and she was in the water. It happened in an instant.

“For the past few days I don’t think Eva had been going to school because she wasn’t feeling well.”

In a statement her school said it was providing “support to pupils and staff” and asked that the girl’s family and the school community were given “time to grieve”.

Drayton Manor’s company director George Bryan, whose grandfather opened the park in the 1950s, said they were “truly shocked and devastated” by the death.

The ride opened in 1993 and features up to 21 boats, each with a capacity of six people and offers a “a wild ride” with “fast-flowing rapids”. Riders must be at least 0.9m (3ft) tall, although those under 1.1m must be accompanied by an adult.

Jameah Academy said in a statement on its website: “As a school community we are deeply shocked and our thoughts are with our pupil’s family and friends.

“The school will ensure specially trained staff are in school to provide our pupils and staff support at this difficult time. We would request that the family and the school community are given time to grieve.

“Please be assured that the safety and wellbeing of our pupils is our foremost priority. We are liaising with the relevant authorities and therefore we are unable to provide any further information at this time."

Labour pledges £6bn annual boost to school budgets

Political reporter(wp):

A Labour government would raise corporate taxes to fund a £6bn-a-year boost to schools budgets by the end of the next parliament and create a National Education Service to equip Britain’s workers for the post-Brexit economy, the party will announce.

After Jeremy Corbyn launched Labour’s campaign with a rousing speech to activists in Manchester on Tuesday, promising to “transform Britain”, Labour hopes the tax-and-spend policy will draw a clear dividing line with the Conservatives, by underlining its determination to relieve the pressure on cash-starved public services.

While formal manifestos have not yet been launched, the education plans are the latest of a series of spending pledges made by Labour since the snap election was called – including raising the cap on NHS wages, and building up to a million new homes, many of them council houses.

Corbyn and his aides believe a clear anti-austerity message will engage disillusioned voters who feel left behind – the “just about managing families” Theresa May has also set her sights on winning over. But the Conservatives have repeatedly attacked Labour’s economic credibility, with Philip Hammond and David Davis last week claiming to have identified a £45bn “black hole” at the heart of the party’s spending plans.

By reversing repeated cuts to the corporation tax rate made by the Tories since 2010, Labour believes it could fund a series of ambitious pledges, including:

• Abolishing university tuition fees and restoring maintenance grants for the poorest students.
• Pouring an extra £5.6bn into the annual schools budget by 2021, to guarantee that five-, six- and seven-year olds will not be taught in classes of more than 30.
• Extending free adult education to allow workers to upgrade their skills.
• Restoring the educational maintenance allowance, paid to 16- to 18-year-olds in full-time study.

In total, Labour claims the package of education measures, including schools funding and increasing the adult skills budget would cost £6.7bn a year by the end of the parliament in 2020-21. They calculate this would still leave some revenue from the corporation tax rise to spend on other manifesto measures.

In another bid to differentiate themselves from the Tories, Labour would also guarantee that no school would lose out from controversial reforms to the national funding formula, which has led to some headteachers warning parents they will have to lay off teachers.

The government has been under sustained pressure over school finances, with funding per pupil projected to fall by 8% in real terms by 2020.

A report by the Commons public accounts committee (PAC) in March said schools in England are facing the most significant financial pressure since the mid-1990s, with school leaders having to find £3bn in savings over the next three years.

The scathing report accused the Department for Education of failing to understand the plight of England’s schools, which have already had to cut staff, maintenance costs, IT investment and pastoral services to meet rising costs.

Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, said: “We believe that lifelong learning and education is the real ticket to ensure that our workforce in a post-Brexit economy can reach its full potential.”

She added: “We are not interested in cutting corporation tax to levels that are unsustainable when our public services are at crisis point. It’s about investing in our young people.”

Rayner said the National Education Service title was a deliberate echo of the National Health Service, with its cradle-to-grave provision, free at the point of use. 

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has repeatedly said that he will reverse the tax giveaways to companies, which have seen the corporation tax rate, which is levied on profits, fall from 28% in 2010, to 19% today, with more cuts scheduled to take effect in future years.

But Wednesday’s announcement is the first time Labour has revealed the full details of its plans, which would see the corporation tax rate increase gradually, to 26% by 2020-21. Small businesses would pay a lower rate.

That would still be the lowest level in the G7 group of advanced industrial countries; but the Conservatives are likely to seize on the planned tax rise as evidence Labour policies would frighten away foreign investors as the economy gears up for Brexit.

Separately, Labour would increase investment in schools by up to £20bn – funded through extra borrowing – to ensure that enough pupil places are available and buildings are brought up to scratch.

Labour hopes to get its campaign “grid” back on track with the education announcement, after Corbyn and his team came under pressure on Tuesday over Brexit.

The Labour leader said in his speech in Manchester that the issue of Brexit had been settled. Asked repeatedly afterwards by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg whether Britain would leave the European Union “come hell or high water”, Corbyn said: “People know that there’s been a referendum and a decision was made a year ago. We’ve set out very clearly our terms for negotiations.”

Senior Labour sources said Corbyn had not been trying to reopen the issue of whether Brexit should go ahead, but simply to emphasise that he disagrees with Theresa May’s insistence that “no deal is better than a bad deal”.

Labour’s parliamentary party was deeply split by Corbyn’s decision to impose a three-line whip on MPs, urging them to back the government bill triggering article 50, the formal process of leaving the EU.

With the election campaign underway, Labour is keen to move the debate on from Brexit, to the state of Britain’s public services, and its determination to bust the “cosy cartels” running Britain.

With just less than a month to go until the 8 June vote, the Labour leader unveiled the party’s battle bus on Tuesday, emblazoned with the election slogan “for the many not the few”.

“There is no doubt this country is being held back,” Corbyn said. “If your children are not getting the education they deserve because the class sizes are too high, then your children are being held back. If you’re a young couple, anyone trying to get a home, and can’t make a home because rent and house prices are too high, then you’re being held back.”

He presented a resolutely upbeat tone despite the Conservatives overwhelming poll lead, which stood at 22 points in the latest Guardian/ICM poll.

At the rally in Manchester, and a subsequent stump speech in Salford, Corbyn insisted Labour can still win the general election and urged activists to take the party’s message to the voters.

The Liberal Democrats have also launched their flagship education pledge, promising to invest an additional £7bn in schools and colleges.
Like Labour, the party said their extra cash would protect per pupil-funding in real terms and guard schools against any losses from the re-shaping of the national funding formula.

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron will launch the policy at a primary school in Cornwall on Wednesday, with the extra funds released by a pledge to reverse corporation tax cuts and the Conservatives proposals for funding new grammar schools. The marriage tax allowance, introduced as part of the Lib Dems coalition deal with the Conservatives, would also be scrapped, the party said.

Lib Dem education spokeswoman Sarah Olney said the money would reverse “crippling Conservative cuts” that left schools in perilous financial states. “While funding per pupil is set to see the biggest cuts in a generation, billions of pounds are being spent on divisive plans to expand grammars and free schools,” she said. “This extra £7bn of funding would ensure no school and no child loses out.”

Farron also announced on Tuesday that girls would be provided with free sanitary products in schools under a Liberal Democrat initiative that the party has said would end the hidden problem of “period poverty” – where teenagers miss school because they cannot afford pads or tampons.

David Gauke, chief secretary to the Treasury, said: “Jeremy Corbyn can’t deliver any of this – they’re just made up promises on the back of nonsensical spending plans. He’s spent this damaging tax rise on businesses on 12 different things and he’s already dropped numerous things he’s said he’d do before. The Lib Dems are no better and won’t even tell people about the tax rises they would bring in.”

Man knifed in broad daylight street attack in north London

Crime reporter(wp/es):

A man has been rushed to hospital after being stabbed in a broad daylight attack in north London.

Police were called to a street off of the busy Seven Sisters Road in south Tottenham at shortly before 4pm on Tuesday after an alert from paramedics.

The victim, a man aged 34, was found injured after being stabbed in the leg outside Oatfield House on St Ann's Road.

He was rushed to hospital by ambulance where he remains.

Police have taped off part of the street, outside the No 8 hostel at the junction with Albert Road while they investigate.

Photos from the scene show blood on the pavement and what appears to be a small pile of clothing.

Several police cars and ambulances can be seen as officers stand next to the cordon.

According to police, the extent of the man's injuries and his condition is not yet known.

A Met Police spokesman said police were called at 3.50pm to reports of a male who had been stabbed. Officers are currently at the scene.

Today's stabbing comes after the Met announced they had set up a specialist taskforce to tackle knife crime with 100 officers.

A week-long crackdown as part of Operation Sceptre saw more than 300 knives seized from the streets and more than 50 people arrested on average each day

Man in court over dead girl found in clingfilm-wrapped wardrobe

Crime reporter(wp):

A man has appeared in court charged with preventing the lawful burial of a teenage girl found in a wardrobe wrapped in clingfilm.

Ashley Foster, 24, was charged after the remains of a 17-year-old, believed to be Megan Louise Bills from Stourbridge, West Midlands, were found in nearby Brierley Hill on Thursday. Police have informed Megan’s next of kin.

Foster, of no fixed address, appeared for a brief hearing at Dudley magistrates court on Monday flanked by a dock officer.

He was not asked to enter a plea to a charge of preventing the lawful and decent burial between 16 April and 4 May.

Officers had been called to an address in Brierley Hill after neighbours reported a smell.

Maxine Jarrousse-Jones, prosecuting, said when police turned up at a flat there, they “found a double wardrobe wrapped in clingfilm”.

She added: “The wardrobe was opened and a young female was found inside, deceased, and had been there a considerable amount of time – at least a couple of weeks.”

Simon Green, presiding, told Foster the offence could only be dealt with at a higher court and remanded him into custody. Foster is to appear before Wolverhampton crown court on 5 June.

In a statement, released through West Midlands police, Megan’s family said: “We are devastated by the loss of our daughter whose life has so unnecessarily been cut short.

“We appreciate the support we have been given by our family, friends and the police.

“Whilst nothing can fill the huge gap in our family life that Megan’s passing has left, we trust that in time we will have answers that will help us understand why this dreadful event has occurred. We would request that we are left alone to grieve at this emotional time. Rest in peace princess.”

DI Caroline Corfield, the investigating officer, said: “Our hearts go out to Megan’s family as they come to terms with this dreadful news and they have asked that they are given the privacy to do so.

“Our investigation is continuing as we work to establish the circumstances of Megan’s death so that we can provide her family with the answers they need.

“I would ask anyone with information about Megan’s last known movements to come forward.”

Boy, 17, stabbed to death in London

Crime reporter(wp):

A 17-year-old boy has died after he was discovered by paramedics in north-east London on Sunday night with a serious stab injury, police said.

London ambulance service (LAS) called police at 11.31pm after finding the teenager on High Street, Walthamstow, after reports of a stabbing. The boy was taken to hospital but died shortly afterwards, according to the Metropolitan police.

Detectives from the Met’s homicide and major crime command have launched a murder investigation. No arrests have been made.

The victim’s next of kin has been informed. However, there has been no formal identification and his name has not been released.

The LAS said: “We were called at 11.29pm yesterday to High Street, E17, to reports of a stabbing. We sent an ambulance crew and single responder in a car to the scene. We treated one patient – a male – and took him as a priority to hospital.”

A crime scene blocked about 100 metres of the western end of High Street, a busy shopping area, on Monday morning. The WT understands that the incident that led to the stabbing began around the corner from where the youth was found, in the car park of a Lidl supermarket.

It was the second fatal stabbing on the streets of London at the weekend. Detectives were appealing for witnesses and information after a 23-year-old man who was found stabbed in Uxbridge at 1am on Saturday morning died shortly after arriving at hospital.

The 17-year-old’s death brings to 15 the number of teenagers and children killed in the UK this year. It comes amid a spate of knife killings in London that has prompted Scotland Yard to renew its anti-knife initiative, Operation Sceptre.

New measures include a squad of 80 officers to carry out “murder suppression” operations, including intensified stop and search, in areas considered to be at high risk, the officer in charge, DCS Michael Gallagher, told the WT last week.

Schools are also being urged to install metal-detecting knife arches to discourage children from carrying blades in their school bags.