‘Clowning Street’: UK election day newspaper round-up
British voters woke this morning to a rash of headlines telling them who to vote for before visiting the ballot box.
Armed police stand guard near London Bridge after the attack. Photograph: Daniel Sorabji/AFP via Getty Images
After the terrorist attack in London last week, political parties in the UK are blaming each other.
A man recently released from prison for a terrorism offence killed two people in a terrorist attack that has been leapt upon by politicians ahead of the election next week.
London Bridge attack was one of dozens of convicted terrorists released early from prison in Britain; reaction from Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy.
Terrorism is the use or threat of action, both in and outside of the UK, designed to influence any international government organisation or to intimidate the public. It must also be for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.
Examples;
- serious violence against a person or damage to property,
- endangering a person’s life (other than that of the person committing the action),
- creating a serious risk to the health or safety of the public or a section of the public,
- action designed to seriously interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system.
The attacker, Usman Khan, had been attending a conference on the rehabilitation of offenders. He killed Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25, and was himself shot dead by police.
UK counterterrorism police on Saturday searched for clues into how a man imprisoned for terrorism offenses before his release last year managed to stab several people before being tackled by bystanders and shot dead by officers on London Bridge. Two people were killed and three wounded
Terrorism crimes are difficult to police in that the sentencing, rehabilitation and parole are all emotive subjects that are best debated outside of an election cycle.
Terrorism crimes and terrorist-related offences are subject to the criminal justice system in the same way as all other crimes. The CPS reviews the case and makes a charging decision in line with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. However, terrorism offences are distinct from other types of crime in that individuals who commit terrorism-related offences have political, religious racial and/or ideological motivations, unlike typical criminal motivations, which may be personal gain or revenge, for example. The CPS and Metropolitan Police have specialist units that were set up specifically to undertake terrorism cases and there are four other police Counter Terrorism Units (CTUs) around the country.
“I love my children very much, but they are not standing at this election, and I am not therefore going to comment,” said Johnson, whose colorful love life has attracted tabloid attention in the past.
“I am not going to put them on to the pitch in this election.”
When asked if he was going to have more children, Johnson, 55, who is living at Downing Street with his partner Carrie Symonds after separating from his wife last year, said: “I’m not going to get into discussions (on this).” (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; writing by Michael Holden. Editing by Andrew MacAskill)British
Tata Steel is set to cut 3,000 jobs in Europe. The Indian-owned company says issues of global oversupply and stagnant EU demand have been “compounded by trade conflicts which have turned the European market into a dumping ground for the world’s excess steel capacity”. The announcement comes two months after the steel giant said it planned to shutter two UK operations, jeopardising 400 jobs. In May, the EU blocked a merger between Tata Steel and German rival Thyssenkrupp.
Tata Steel plans to cut as many as 3,000 jobs across its European business in another bid to come to terms with a “severe” international steel market.
Tata Steel layoffs in Europe is a combination of the slump in steel industry led by a tepid manufacturing growth in the whole of EU. Steel consumption fell by 2.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019. The drop in manufacturing is due to weakened exports and investment. Industry estimates says that steel consumption will only stabilize, but no rebound. Tata Steel will also feel the brunt of Brexit. The rest of EU is already seeing a challenge from US due to the trade war. The interesting thing is that the company is saying that the layoffs will be of white collar workers in the office and not factory workers. This might be due to the strong labor union and likely political opposition in Britain – K Yatish Rajawat
I feel for the workers who will lose their jobs. I don’t think there’s any economy that’s really booming right now. There’s just isn’t enough manufacturing and construction activity to absorb all the steel capacity in the world. So this was inevitable. There’s a pushback against globalization, so internationalization will have to perhaps take a back seat for now. Unless economic activity revives, both in India and elsewhere, more job cuts are unavoidable. Governments of the world have to stop superficial demagoguery and start doing hardcore nation-building – Anupam Choudhury
