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Garbage being thrown into lake by BBMP workers While we are struggling with water logged roads as our lakes are encroached, drains are not desilted and Garbage filled in lakes. Look at the BBMP workers throwing garbage to Herohalli Lake. Kingroyal Giriş Does your folks have any sense. Can...

25,096 次观看 • 1 年前 •via X (Twitter)

11 条评论

Vivek Reddy 的头像
Vivek Reddy1 年前

@BBMPCOMM Even Bescom cuts tree branches randomly, the weight of the tree gets unbalanced and hence they often fall , they have no idea what they are doing or why !!

Pepsi🇮🇳 的头像
Pepsi🇮🇳1 年前

@BBMPCOMM Don’t worry! BBMP under leadership of INC will spend ₹4000 crores to clean the lakes next year. Obviously after they go to Europe to study how white people throw their garbage in the lake.

Sureshot 🇮🇳 的头像
Sureshot 🇮🇳1 年前

@BBMPCOMM Gazab We, as a society, have totally gone to the dogs! Seriously??? TADA should be imposed on all those responsible and they should be locked up forever. Jai Hind 🇮🇳

UMdesi 的头像
UMdesi1 年前

@BBMPCOMM Evidence of the low average IQ in India ! Who is the supervisor of these workers? He should be fired right away and then the workers for obeying such orders.

Srishti Modi 的头像
Srishti Modi1 年前

@BBMPCOMM Same situation everywhere. Garbage being thrown in SWD by BBMP workers behind a waste center

The Daily Muck 的头像
The Daily Muck1 年前

California’s “paper” wetland restorations? One small island, a vanished Delta Smelt, and a $39M fine expose what might be the biggest eco-cover-up in the Bay-Delta.

satyalaxmi rao 的头像
satyalaxmi rao1 年前

@BBMPCOMM No accountability of health commissioner or SWM???Had representated proper dustbins to be installed in specified places on street,but no responses.Residents also mindlessly dumping garbage on streets,without segregation. Onus is on both parties.

🇮🇳#Gears 的头像
🇮🇳#Gears1 年前

@BBMPCOMM That's job creation #BBMP way. They are being true to their skills. Like, build the road, dig the same spot for drains like UGD, fix drains and fix road, dig again to lay Water pipes, again build road and then dig again so that there will be new tenders for roads. All in a year

x 的头像
x1 年前

@BBMPCOMM What the hell is this? @DKShivakumar @siddaramaiah @BBMPAdmn @BBMPCOMM One side @DKShivakumar is saying we will ban underground parking for any new house built near lakes or low lying area and the other side they are throwing waste in lakes?

shivdomlur 的头像
shivdomlur1 年前

@BBMPCOMM Horrible act of ignorance and environmental disaster.

Medahalli Rising 的头像
Medahalli Rising1 年前

@BBMPCOMM Pathetic

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Congress MLA Mr Haris goondagiri. AAP Volunteer has been manhandled He and his associates attacked AAP Bengaluru Volunteer Shiva Kumar as he was being the face of the public in the Domlur area raising the Civic issues. Siddaramaiah DK Shivakumar Dr. G Parameshwara is there any law and order that exists in Bangalore? Who gave the authority to your MLA to manhandle? Is raising the Civic issue a problem in Bangalore? CP Bengaluru ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಆಯುಕ್ತ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು would you file FIR and take action against Mr Haris and his aides? Arvind Kejriwal AAP Narendra Modi Rahul Gandhi Congress Turahalli Forest Save Turahalli Forest Electronic City Rising Uttarahalli Rising Namma Electronic City E L C I T A ELCIA ChangeMakers of Kanakapura Road (CMKR) ® JP Nagar Residents Welfare Association ® Gottigere People's Collective Bannerghatta National Park Doddakallasandra Lake Protection Committee AAP Bengaluru Prithvi Reddy Ashwin Mahesh Srinivas Alavilli TOI Bengaluru Bangalore Mirror Deccan Herald Yacoob NBF Prajavani The Indian Express Whitefield Rising SaveBellandur(ಬೆಳ್ಳಂದೂರು ಉಳಿಸಿ) BellandurJothege Doddakannelli Rising carmelaramunites OhBengaluru Doddanekundi Rising Aravind Limbavali Namma Balagere. Varthur Rising ಮೋಹನ್ ದಾಸರಿ - Mohan Dasari Citizens Movement, East Bengaluru HaralurORRORants HaralurChampions Namma Balagere. ChristinMathewPhilip S. Lalitha

ಅಶೋಕ ಮೃತ್ಯುಂಜಯ (Ashok Mruthyunjaya)

28,656 次观看 • 1 年前

This is not a lake. This is Balagere to Kundalahalli road, flooded with rain and sewerage water and 1.5 feet big potholes. Vehicles are getting stuck and no elected representative or Authorities care for people. Maheshwar Rao.M, IAS DK Shivakumar Siddaramaiah you have spent 1000 of crores for filling up pothole. Is that another scam of your government? People of Bangalore are fed up of your corruption, and bad roads across Bangalore. Manjula Aravind Limbavali you are the MLA of this constituency. Except spending time on photo ops, u r really not helping people of Mahadevapura Even after paying crores of rupees of taxes, people are made to go through this road. Turahalli Forest Save Turahalli Forest Electronic City Rising Uttarahalli Rising Namma Electronic City E L C I T A ELCIA ChangeMakers of Kanakapura Road (CMKR) ® JP Nagar Residents Welfare Association ® Gottigere People's Collective Bannerghatta National Park Doddakallasandra Lake Protection Committee AAP Bengaluru Prithvi Reddy Ashwin Mahesh Srinivas Alavilli TOI Bengaluru Bangalore Mirror Deccan Herald Mohammed Yacoob NBF Whitefield Rising SaveBellandur(ಬೆಳ್ಳಂದೂರು ಉಳಿಸಿ) BellandurJothege Doddakannelli Rising carmelaramunites OhBengaluru Doddanekundi Rising Aravind Limbavali Namma Balagere. Varthur Rising ಮೋಹನ್ ದಾಸರಿ - Mohan Dasari Citizens Movement, East Bengaluru HaralurORRORants HaralurChampions Namma Balagere. ChristinMathewPhilip

ಅಶೋಕ ಮೃತ್ಯುಂಜಯ (Ashok Mruthyunjaya)

12,715 次观看 • 1 年前

Dear Citizens I know you are angry today. You have been made to struggle on road filled up with water and traffic for hours together. You were angry 2 years back as well, when rain lashed Bangalore. Remember, entire outskirts of Bangalore - Specially Mahadevapura got flooded badly, few people lost life as they could not reach hospitals due to road blocks. We are again today with the same condition. Roads are filled up with Water. It's gonna be same for another 4 days as there is going to be heavy rainfall. I would request you to keep that anger till the roads are fixed, lake encroachments are removed. Hold the Local MLA Aravind Limbavali Manjula Aravind Limbavali, Kingroyal Giriş and Bangalore minister accountable for this mess. If you don't hold them accountable, next year also you will see the same state of affairs. #bangalorerains Turahalli Forest Save Turahalli Forest Electronic City Rising Uttarahalli Rising Namma Electronic City E L C I T A ELCIA ChangeMakers of Kanakapura Road (CMKR) ® JP Nagar Residents Welfare Association ® Gottigere People's Collective Bannerghatta National Park Doddakallasandra Lake Protection Committee AAP Bengaluru Prithvi Reddy Ashwin Mahesh Srinivas Alavilli TOI Bengaluru Bangalore Mirror Deccan Herald Yacoob NBF Whitefield Rising SaveBellandur(ಬೆಳ್ಳಂದೂರು ಉಳಿಸಿ) BellandurJothege Doddakannelli Rising carmelaramunites OhBengaluru Doddanekundi Rising Aravind Limbavali Namma Balagere. Varthur Rising ಮೋಹನ್ ದಾಸರಿ - Mohan Dasari Citizens Movement, East Bengaluru HaralurORRORants HaralurChampions Namma Balagere. ChristinMathewPhilip

ಅಶೋಕ ಮೃತ್ಯುಂಜಯ (Ashok Mruthyunjaya)

42,721 次观看 • 1 年前

Panattur ROB mess!! CM visits. Aravind Limbavali confesses. Manjula Aravind Limbavali is not seen anywhere. Mr Aravind Limbavali openly accepted, when BJP Karnataka was in power. Mr B.S.Yeddyurappa approved the Sobha Apartment without even having a road. While I appreciate your honesty, I have a few questions for you. 1. Why would a CM intervene in a building approval at Mahadevapura constituency? Isn't it the job of Kingroyal Giriş? Were you guys overriding BBMP? 2. You were the MLA since the last 3 terms. Why didn't you raise people's voices with Mr. Yediyurappa and stop the project? 3. You let the mishap happen and now acting helpless. Did the people of Mahadevapura vote you to do this or fight for our rights in the assembly? You couldn't influence your own government, how will you influence the Karnataka Congress government in getting funds for our assembly? By the way where is our real MLA Manjula Aravind Limbavali??? AAP Bengaluru Prithvi Reddy Ashwin Mahesh Srinivas Alavilli TOI Bengaluru Bangalore Mirror Deccan Herald Yacoob NBF Prajavani The Indian Express Whitefield Rising SaveBellandur(ಬೆಳ್ಳಂದೂರು ಉಳಿಸಿ) BellandurJothege Doddakannelli Rising carmelaramunites OhBengaluru Doddanekundi Rising Aravind Limbavali Namma Balagere. Varthur Rising ಮೋಹನ್ ದಾಸರಿ - Mohan Dasari Citizens Movement, East Bengaluru HaralurORRORants HaralurChampions Namma Balagere. ChristinMathewPhilip S. Lalitha

ಅಶೋಕ ಮೃತ್ಯುಂಜಯ (Ashok Mruthyunjaya)

18,614 次观看 • 1 年前

Illegal PG vs Senior Citizens White field!!!!!!!!!!!! Court orders violated by Commissioner GBA Bengaluru East City Corporation !!!! 1. Seniors citizens go to Court for demolition of Illegal PG within their community. 2. Court orders demolition - July 2025 3. BBMP issues notice for demolition - August 2025 4. No demolition happens till Today after 8 months. 5. Few other illegal PG gets built. 6. Community compound wall gets demolished - despite a stay from court 6. GBA East remain silent 7. GBA issues notice to the complainants. Questions 1. Who all took bribe to violate court order? 2. 8 months needed for demolition and follow court order? 3. No value for by laws of GBA in the City Commissioner GBA Bengaluru East City Corporation At least now will you take action or we have to go to court to get contempt of court order? Manjula Aravind Limbavali your constituency!! people are suffering, will you help? or you will act as if its not your problem? DK Shivakumar Would you mind to take interest and solve this mess and save senior citizens? Whitefield Rising SaveBellandur(ಬೆಳ್ಳಂದೂರು ಉಳಿಸಿ) BellandurJothege Doddakannelli Rising carmelaramunites OhBengaluru Doddanekundi Rising Aravind Limbavali Namma Balagere. Varthur Rising Citizens Movement, East Bengaluru HaralurORRORants HaralurChampions Namma Balagere. ChristinMathewPhilip S. Lalitha Civic Opposition of India AAP Bengaluru Prithvi Reddy Ashwin Mahesh Srinivas Alavilli TOI Bengaluru Bangalore Mirror Deccan Herald Yacoob NBF Prajavani The Indian Express ಮೋಹನ್ ದಾಸರಿ - Mohan Dasari

ಅಶೋಕ ಮೃತ್ಯುಂಜಯ (Ashok Mruthyunjaya)

28,227 次观看 • 4 个月前

Clive Lewis's Water Bill - bringing water back to the people 💯 Please watch, listen or read this transcript. Because this is the sort of leadership Labour needs 👏 Clive Lewis MP He even calls for PR 👏 Clive Lewis (Norwich South) (Lab) Margaret Thatcher’s revolution tore up the rulebook on political and economic management. She rewrote it with a single unwavering principle: that the pursuit of profit would serve the public good, even when it came to vital public services—even when it came to water. We often say that society stands on the shoulders of giants, but giants cast long shadows, and Thatcherism’s shadow looms dark over our water system today. Whether we see ourselves standing on her shoulders or trapped in her shadow, one thing is undeniable: she proved that the world can be made differently. And if it can be made differently once, it can be made differently again. That, as the brilliant anthropologist David Graeber understood, is the hidden truth of the world. It is something we create and can choose to create anew. We can do it better. Today, I want to show this House and this country that water is the lens through which we can imagine something better—a better way of running our economy, a better way of safeguarding our environment and a better way of empowering the public, for whom democracy supposedly exists. But that requires something very difficult: it requires us to break free from the constraints of our imagination and to let go of the idea that this economic model is all there is or all there ever could be. It saddens me to say that the Government’s Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 perfectly exemplifies this failure of imagination. One of its leading proponents has a particular rhetorical flourish they love to use when dismissing calls for public ownership of water. They say, “I’m more interested in the purity of our water than the purity of our ideology.” I love that quote. I love it because it lays bare just how deeply the ideology of privatisation, and all that goes with it, has embedded itself. So entrenched is it within our collective consciousness that we no longer recognise it as an ideology. We no longer see it for what it is: a systemic exploitation of a common resource for private gain. Instead, it has simply become the natural order of things. But how much longer can this go on? Since the crash of 2008, this ideology has been faltering under the weight of its own contradictions, yet its grip on British politics remains vice-like. Austerity, exploitation and corporate price gouging are still treated not as choices but as inevitabilities. Why? Because too many politicians on both sides of the House refuse to contemplate alternatives. For those on the other side of the House—on the Opposition Benches—I get it: this is their ideology. They are defending their class, and I would imagine they would go further still if they could. But on this side of the House, we have no excuse. We should be standing up for our class: working-class people—the public. Instead, we wrap their ideology in the language of fiscal responsibility, economic prudence and stewardship of the economy. But it is not fiscal responsibility when we balance the books on broken backs. It is not stewardship when the ship has been sold off and the crew left to drown. It is not prudence. It is power maintenance. Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (Lab) I hope the engineers can check that the microphones and speakers are working while I ask a quick question. My hon. Friend mentions Members on this side of the House. There are far more of us on this side since July last year than there were in 2019, with a very different approach taken in our manifestos. Does he fear that the shift in tone he is suggesting is one of the reasons that we did so badly in 2019 but so well last year? Clive Lewis No, I do not. We have a distorted electoral system. Bring on proportional representation, because if we had PR, we would have had a different Government in 2019 and most definitely in 2017. Sometimes politicians have to do what they believe to be right and lead from the front. I think we should lead from the front. Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Ind) I compliment the hon. Member on his Bill. To help his argument, there was overwhelming opinion poll support for public ownership of water in 2017 and 2019, and there still is today. Clive Lewis I thank the right hon. Member for his point. I will come on to this later, and I hope other Members will pick up on it, but the fact that the public are way ahead of this House on the issue of public ownership is one of the reasons why so many people are losing faith in the two-party political system. One only has to look at some political parties whose Members are not in their place—at the Reform party, for example, which has a policy of public ownership of water. Yes, its Members will privatise the NHS, but they understand how popular this is, and they are ahead of the curve—they are ahead of us on this side. Neil Coyle Really? Clive Lewis On the issue of water, yes, I would say they are, because whether I like it or not, Reform has a policy for water to be owned 50% by pension companies and 50% by the public. As much as it grieves me to say it, that is a policy of public ownership. They are populist; they are listening to a popular voice. Mr James Frith (Bury North) (Lab) Will my hon. Friend give way? Clive Lewis I will make some progress and then give way, and I will also try to keep the volume down a little bit. This is about the maintenance of a political and economic model that was never built to serve the public—a model designed to shield the wealth of asset holders, landlords, shareholders, corporations and, yes, privatised water companies. But here is the great irony: the very greed, recklessness and contempt of the water industry—its excesses—have cracked open the door, and through that crack, we glimpse an opportunity. It is an opportunity to shatter the myth of privatisation’s inevitability, to break free from the narrow, self-imposed rules that have caged our Government’s economic choices, to expose its failures, to challenge its dominance and, above all, to show this country that there is an alternative—an alternative that is democratic, sustainable and run in the interests of the many, not the few. We can do it better. Mr Frith My hon. Friend is making a typically impassioned speech. He says the general public are ahead of us. Where might that same public be when faced with the bill for bringing in the nationalisation he is clearly wedded to? Furthermore, in the event that we do not have to buy the water industry but seize it, the implications of that seizure will cause an economic collapse. At what point will he take responsibility for either of those scenarios when confronting a public who are, he says, ahead of us on this issue? Clive Lewis I will obviously come to many of those points later in my speech, but let me make this point now: I do not believe in nationalisation, and this Bill has nothing to do with nationalisation. This is about giving the public a say over their water. It is about governance, standards and democracy. Mr Frith Will my hon. Friend give way? Clive Lewis No, my hon. Friend has made his point. Mr Frith On this point? Clive Lewis No, I am going to carry on and make some progress. You made your point. Let the public— Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani) Order. Mr Lewis, I do not believe I was making a point at all. Clive Lewis My apologies, Madam Deputy Speaker; I should have said that my hon. Friend made his point. The clock is ticking. The climate crisis is no longer a distant warning. It is our lived reality. Rising droughts, creeping desertification, depleted aquifers, wildfires, systemic collapse—these are no longer projections; they are the forecast turned fact. Preparing for this future and adapting to what is now inevitable has never been more urgent. The evidence is sobering. The UK’s water resources are under mounting pressure and not just from the climate emergency, but from rising demand and population growth. Experts now project that England could face significant water supply deficits as early as 2034 unless we act decisively. That is not a distant horizon; it is a little over a decade away. But while the threat has grown, our resilience has shrunk, because while the climate crisis has intensified, our water infrastructure has stood still, or, worse, been sold off, hollowed out and left to rot. In the 35 years before privatisation almost 100 reservoirs were built; in the 35 years since privatisation, not one major English reservoir has been built. But it gets worse, because in that same period private water companies have sold off 25 reservoirs without replacing one. Instead of investing in resilience, they have extracted value: £72 billion paid out in dividends while pipes leak, rivers choke, and the public pays the price. My hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Frith) asks how we can afford it; how can we not afford it? That is not mismanagement; it is a betrayal. If scientists tell us the climate crisis is an existential threat to humanity and to this country— Grahame Morris (Easington) (Lab) Will my hon. Friend give way? Clive Lewis One second. If scientists tell us the climate crisis is an existential threat to humanity and to this country, we must treat it as such: an existential conflict. In that context, the actions of these companies—selling off reservoirs, failing to invest, polluting our water—are not just negligent; they are acts that actively undermine our national water security. In any other existential crisis, we might call that what it is: sabotage. And in a time of national peril, sabotage has another name: treason. Let me explain why this matters to me personally. When I served on tour in Afghanistan back in 2009—not in a boy band—I experienced something utterly alien to me: the gnawing fear of thirst; not the mild irritation of forgetting a water bottle, but the deep physical worry that there may not be enough clean water to get through the day. In Britain, we have been blessed: water falls from the sky; it fills our rivers, it soaks our fields, and we joke about it—it is part of who we are. But in Afghanistan there was no humour; only heat, dust and desperation. There I saw children trekking miles through the desert, not for food, not for money, but to beg for clean bottled water. Once we have seen that, and once we have felt that fear, we can never take water for granted again. We never again believe it is something we can waste or pollute or privatise without consequence. That is why I have brought forward this Bill: because anger is not enough; outrage, no matter how justified, will not fix the pipes, stop the sewage or fill the reservoirs. We need a plan. We need a strategy. We need a future. We can do it better. My Water Bill delivers that. It sets out the high standards our country deserves and the democratic governance our water system desperately needs. First, it establishes clear, ambitious targets to stop the sewage in our rivers and on our beaches, to restore our water to high ecological and chemical standards, and to deliver universal, affordable access to water as a basic human right—a right we have never had before in this country. It demands a system designed not just to extract profit but to adapt, to build resilience in the face of climate change, and to harness nature-based solutions that work with the environment, not against it. Secondly, it transforms governance. The Bill introduces representation for workers and local communities on the boards of water companies. It gives voting rights to employees and customers, so that those who use and maintain a system have a real say in how it is run. Water is not a commodity but a common good, and those who depend on it and pay for it should help govern it. Thirdly, the Bill lays the foundations for a democratic future. It establishes a commission on water ownership to advise the Secretary of State on long-term strategy, looking at international best practice, especially in OECD countries, where public water ownership is the norm, not the exception. Crucially, it creates a citizens assembly on water ownership to bring the public into the process, to deliberate, debate and decide how we can govern this most precious of resources. The public care, but how do I know that? I know because a small fraction of them are in the Public Gallery today, having travelled here from all over the country; I know because of the thousands of emails that have been sent to MPs across the House; and I know because those people will never stop campaigning until this injustice is resolved. They know that we can protect something not by selling it off, but by standing up for it, involving people in its care and ensuring that it serves the public, today, tomorrow and for generations to come. My Bill offers a pathway out of crisis. It offers control, resilience and democracy. It is not just about cleaning up our rivers, but about cleaning up the system that allowed them to be polluted in the first place. Privatisation is not just a problem—it is the problem. We can do it better. I can hear some people on the Labour Benches thinking, “But we have just passed”— Dawn Butler (Brent East) (Lab) You can hear thinking? Clive Lewis I can now—for my next trick, I can hear thinking! I can hear them thinking, “But we have just passed the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, Clive, so what are you talking about?” Yes, we have, but I am afraid to say it has been watered down—[Interruption.] Sorry, I had to get that one in—it was all going so well. The Act does not live up to what was promised, it does not deliver what is needed, and it certainly does not live up to its name. Do not get me wrong: it is a start. Grahame Morris I congratulate my good and hon. Friend on making an excellent speech and on advocating for public ownership of water and the opportunity to make things better. Does he agree that the mismanagement of the water companies under privatisation is a huge indictment of the whole principle? In my area, bills are way above inflation and huge dividends are being paid by borrowing money. At the very least, should our Government not be looking at stopping the payment of bonuses and share dividends while sewage pollution continues, and we have appalling mismanagement of the industry? Clive Lewis I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I agree with him wholeheartedly and I am just about to come to that point in relation to what the Water (Special Measures) Act does and does not do. It addresses some of those points, but as we have already discussed, privatisation is not just a problem, but the problem, and it is a big part of why so much has gone wrong. Unfortunately, the Water (Special Measures) Act does not live up to what was promised or what is needed, and it certainly does not live up to its name. However, it is a start, and I praise my colleagues on the Front Bench, including the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice (Emma Hardy), who has done so much work in this area. Unfortunately, the Act is not a solution. Remarkably, my Government’s Water (Special Measures) Act does not even define what clean water means. There are no standards or targets—just vague intentions handed over once again to a regulatory system that has already failed us and to the companies that caused the mess in the first place. It says nothing about better governance, and absolutely nothing about the big, fat, humongous elephant in the room: who owns our water? If we do not deal with ownership, we cannot deal with accountability. If we cannot deal with accountability, we can forget clean water. No—we must go further on clean water standards, corporate accountability and what happens when companies fail. Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab) Does my hon. and gallant Friend accept that there is increased accountability in the Water (Special Measures) Act through the fact that many companies in the industry are now rewriting their articles of association to ensure that they are accountable not just to shareholders, but to the customers and users of water? Clive Lewis After 35 years of abject failure, it is too little, too late. My Bill would put the final nail in the coffin of this sorry chapter of our country’s water and water system. Neil Coyle Sticking with the puns, I commend my hon. Friend on his gallons of passion; he is always making waves. He criticises the Government’s legislation, which is obviously not yet in effect, but does he think that the Cunliffe commission will go any way towards addressing some of the concerns he has outlined? Clive Lewis Unfortunately, I do not, because again the elephant in the room—who owns our water—has been ruled out of the Cunliffe commission’s operational process. It cannot actually look at that issue. I have no issue with Sir Jon Cunliffe, but let us not forget that he originates from the Treasury—he probably has Treasury brain. That economic orthodoxy is part of the reason why we are in the place that we are. I do not have so much confidence in the Cunliffe commission, but I do have far more confidence in the People’s Commission on the Water Sector, which is being run by academics and which will report at the same time. I will be very interested to hear what it says. Neil Coyle Will my hon. Friend give way? Clive Lewis Those are the reasons why I have brought forward this Bill. The Government’s Act does none of those things, but my Bill does. Take just one example— Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani) Order. I believe Mr Lewis probably cannot hear interventions, because he is so loud himself. Members should intervene loudly if they wish to intervene. Clive Lewis I did hear the intervention, but I wanted to make some progress. Take this one example. Under this Bill, if a water company breaches the terms of its licence with a major sewage discharge, it can forget shareholder payout and piling on more debt. If it does it twice, it is in the last chance saloon. After three strikes, it is out—licence terminated and on its bike—and those price-gouging, asset-stripping, river-killing vulture capitalist outfits will be rolled into the sunset without a penny in compensation. What about those water infrastructure assets that they have been sweating for private gain? They go back into the public realm, thank you very much. If they start whining about debts, do not worry: we will do a full audit of what they invested, what they racked up in debt, what they paid out in dividends and what they stuffed into bloated executive pay packets. I will tell you this, Madam Deputy Speaker: I am yet to see a single privatised English water company walk away with anything other than a well-earned spanking and a sharp haircut for its creditors. Those assets will belong to the public once again, and we will not pay a penny more than they are worth. I can hear people thinking, “Where will the money come from? How will you invest in publicly owned water without the private sector?” I will tell them where it has not come from in these past 35 years—I am mind-reading again. Mark Ferguson (Gateshead Central and Whickham) (Lab) Will my hon. Friend give way? Clive Lewis I will just make some progress, and then I will give way. I am on a roll. Let me tell the House where the money has not come from for these past 35 years. It has not come from private shareholders or long-term thinking, and it certainly has not come from some mythical well of benevolent capitalism. The private companies have put in less than nothing; in fact, they have racked up more than £60 billion in debt. Thames Water has paid more than £7.2 billion in dividends since privatisation, and is now £15.2 billion in debt and counting—work that out. Now, it is trying to plug the hole with a £3 billion emergency loan that will cost 10% in annual interest. That is more than half a billion pounds a year, just for interest payments, courtesy of our bills. That money will not build a reservoir, fix a pipe or clean a river, but it will keep a rotten system afloat for a little longer. Noah Law My hon. and gallant Friend makes an impassioned case for public ownership—something that, in the right context, I am sure Members on all sides of the House can celebrate. On the point about the cost of financing to the public, though, does he agree that while there are some serious indiscretions in parts of the industry, such as in Thames Water’s case, this conversation about the appropriate financing model would be better entertained at a time when the cost of capital in the private water industry was not lower than the cost of public sector borrowing, on which, of course, we are in a very difficult situation? Clive Lewis The cheapest borrowing in the country, without a doubt, is public sector borrowing. The private water industry, which has had 35 years to sort this mess out, is not going to find investment. It is up to its eyeballs in debt. It is relying on a 50% increase in our bills by 2030, if we include inflation, and that is in the middle of a cost of living crisis. How can we justify that? The answer is that we cannot. Mr Frith The day after the seizure of public assets that my hon. Friend is describing, billions and billions of pounds of debt will come with it. What does he propose to do with that debt, other than refinancing, which is exactly where we are at now with the industry requirement to refinance the debt to try to keep bills down? Instead, he is advocating that the public purse take on that private debt. Clive Lewis At the beginning of my now seemingly rather long speech, I think I referred to a failure of imagination. Ask what Margaret Thatcher would have done when she was faced with similar problems. She would have fought her way through it. She changed the very fabric of our economy, our democracy and our politics, and she made it work. We can do the same, because the public are behind us. They want this to work. Mr Frith rose— Mark Ferguson rose— Clive Lewis I will make some progress. Let us recap, because I do not want to go on too long; I want to conclude, if I can. That money from Thames Water—that half a billion pounds in interest payments—will keep a rotten system afloat for just a little longer. The myth of privatisation is that the private sector will act in the long-term interests of the British public because it wants to turn a profit. That is preposterous, as is proven by the state of our water, and exhibit A is Thames Water. We can now turn to the question of where the investment will come from. Under public ownership, it will come from the only place it ever should have—from us, the public—and every penny of it will go back into the system. It will go into the pipes, the rivers, the seas we swim in and the water we drink. There will be a direct relationship between what we pay and what we get, with no offshore dividends, no bloated bonuses and no debt-laden shell games—just clean, accountable, democratic water. When I was in Afghanistan, every soldier had one critical duty: to stay hydrated. To dehydrate was considered a military offence, because it put the soldier and their team at risk. If someone ran out of water, we did not debate markets or metrics; we shared what we had. We had each other’s backs. As the desert-dwelling Fremen in James Herbert’s novel “Dune” believed: “A man’s flesh is his own; the water belongs to the tribe”. It is time our water returned to the tribe, to the people, to the public. We can do better; we must, and with this Bill, we will. I commend it to the House.

Farrukh

24,528 次观看 • 1 年前

Here is my original, full-length speech from today's #YHMCC #GIC Genersl Issues Committee meeting, below: "Hello Again Madam Mayor Andrea Horwath and members of the City of Hamilton General Issues Committee, my name is Jelena Vermilion. Please refer to me exclusively as she/her. These are my pronouns. Please note and respect this. I am here today to provide clarification about the Integrity Commissioner's (Mr. David Boghosian) report with regards to the Ward 8 Councillor’s decorum violation of the Code of Conduct and its subsequent recommendations, dated May 27, 2024. First and foremost, I appreciate the Integrity Commissioner’s decision which resulted in a finding that the code of conduct was violated. Thank you for this affirmation. The analysis would have been more fulsome and robust if I had been allowed to provide my comments towards the disclosure. I hope this never happens again and I hope that complainants’ are always included in these processes moving forward. Thank you to Hamilton Spectator's Teviah Moro for taking the liberty to report on and quote from my 14-page response which was not included in the Integrity Commissioner's analysis of my complaint. My argument is that harm can be done to residents and constituents in a way that is not clearly captured by the code of conduct, such as feigning ignorance about someone’s pronouns. As such, this type of conduct is hard to adjudicate. The recognition of and potentiality for micro-aggressive conduct by elected officials – that is, conduct which indirectly, subtly, or unintentionally discriminates against marginalized group members – is important to consider when integrating amendments to any Code of Conduct. It is also important to integrate and enact fulsome policies that address and capture all these possible gaps in the code to satisfy the public interest and encourage civic engagement from underrepresented communities. This consideration is important to safeguard from inadvertently disparaging residents and constituents from underrepresented communities who engage in the complaints process. The Hamilton Police Service’s 2023 Hate Crime Report which was released April 19th of this year underscores the rising hate/bias incidents and criminal acts directly related to and perpetuated against marginalized communities in Hamilton: racialized people (Black people facing the highest incidences of hate/bias motivated incidents including disproportionate levels of police violence against Black, Middle Eastern, and Indigenous residents), people with religious associations (i.e. our Jewish and Muslim constituents and residents facing the most documented vitriol), and people of a different sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Among this data, we see a rise in gender-identity-related incidents and hate crime. Anecdotally, I was assaulted last year by Corey Jeffery in a hate-motivated assault at SACHA’s Take Back the Night march. I experience some permanent neurocognitive impairment as a result. To the people who felt comfortable placing a literal Tombstone near my residence recently (incident #24671033) – I verily believe there’s a direct connection between seeing particular social media behaviour by elected officials normalized or accepted, and the experience of people like me who are, in essence, dismissed when we make a complaint – up to and including not recommending sanctions against an elected official even when a violation by the public official has been established. Bad behaviour on social media by elected officials encourages, facilitates, and fosters inappropriate, prejudiced, and harmful behaviour by bigoted residents and constituents towards marginalized people. Chief of Hamilton Police Frank Bergen is quoted as saying: “The impact of hate/bias occurrences is felt throughout the entire community. These occurrences undermine victims' feelings of belonging, safety, and well-being, and instill fear across the community.” It is also important to highlight that the report also states, “While there was a rise in the number of hate/bias occurrences, the true number is likely much larger since many incidents go unreported.” I would like to demystify the concept of marginalization as it relates to the LGBTQ2S+ community. This distinction between ‘marginalized’ and ‘marginal’ may seem pedantic to some, nonetheless it is an important descriptor as we – as queer people who are othered - are far from being marginal: Whether we consider gay Alan Turing’s contributions to computer science, Trans Lynn Conway’s inventing IBM microchips we all use in our phones, tablets, and computers every day, Trans Marsha Linehan’s development of dialectical behavioural therapy, The trans @Wachowski Sisters (sarge fan & Lana Wachowski) who brought us the brilliant transgender allegory The Matrix Resurrections film series & the sens8 TV series, Trans Wendy Carlos who revolutionized electronic music with Switched-On Bach and who composed the scores for films The Shining, the original Tron, and Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, Or the implementation of internet-based technologies like graphic images, videos, and payment processing functionality preceding PayPal Elon Musk – which were motivated and developed to market services to sex workers’ clientele - we are far from marginal. We are integral to culture, society, science, art, media, and everyday life. As a public figure, I represent the intersection of several vulnerable classes of women: racialized, trans, intersex & non-binary, sex-working, neurodivergent, migrant, differently abled, those living with- and vulnerable to contracting HIV, and poor. Consider that our experiences inform why we do not have the same relationship with the police as other residents and constituents may have. We cannot reasonably expect the same level of protection or justice due to these entrenched inequities. This is where social media may help fill a gap in representation in mainstream society or prevent the erasure of these same communities and promote accountability of elected officials. I emphatically implore City Council to consider the potential silencing impact accepting the Integrity Commissioner report as-is may continue to have on residents and constituents in Hamilton and their willingness to participate in the democratic process moving forward. Processes for which there are standards for holding public officials to account for their words, actions, and conduct. Social media is a valid medium through which residents and constituents express themselves. These types of statements – that I used social media to “enhance my media presence and stature in the community” are patently untrue. The norms and conventions of social media are being willfully discounted by these statements. How I acted fits with those norms and conventions on Twitter and has no relevance to the report. The deletion of the violative behaviour being listed as a mitigating factor flies in the face of the permanent nature of media on the internet; it is not ephemeral. Retweeting is social convention, and people do it to participate in public discourse. If I violated any rule unbeknownst to me, it was not said or pointed out. The focus of any code of conduct complaint investigation must be squarely on the public official’s conduct and not on the impugned resident and constituent – in this case, myself. Statements like the ones Mr. Boghosian made in mitigation of the Councillor’s violation of the code of conduct should be assessed critically through a human rights lens as per the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The OHRC Canada Justin Trudeau Some rhetoric for Council to reflect on: Why do incidents go unreported? Why do some constituents and residents feel comfortable calling the police when needed – confident, even, while others consider calling the police as their last resort, for better or worse, including medical emergencies? Why is the trans community stricken with overwhelming poverty (Arps et al. 2021) and often involved in sex work? I recommend the Council, General Issues Committee, and the respective Governance Committee consider all of this and ultimately the public interest when considering amendments to the code of conduct. I suggest including explicit language to mandate elected officials to refer to others using the pronouns that the person has specified. This would reflect our local labour precedent EN v Gallagher’s Bar and Lounge, 2021 HRTO 240 which was achieved by counsel Sarah Molyneaux. Choosing to call a trans woman “they” when her pronoun is she is a form of microaggression, and is the act of misgendering someone, contrary to the Ontario Human Rights Code, full stop. Let’s encourage a Hamiton where all community members feel respected and considered within our democratic processes. We are your communities, your neighbours; we share the same schools, places of worship, and city councils - we are everywhere – exactly where we belong. In the words of City of Carbondale Government Illinois' first transgender Councilmember Clare Killman: “It is as hard as ever to simply exist as a queer person in public spaces.” I would finally like to remind Madam Mayor and members of the General Issues Committee that the value of an apology is commensurate with the changed behaviour and demonstrable commitment to reduce further harm by the public official who has violated the code of conduct. We must make certain that people of all walks of life feel safe in our community. Invite us, ask us, include us. I would love to see Hamilton become a city where anyone can come to and call home regardless of their circumstances. We are all responsible as Hamiltonians for becoming more ethical than the society we, or you, or I grew up in. An injury to one is an injury to all! Thank you. #HamOnt #ONPoli #CDNPoli #CDNPolitics #TBTN #StatusForAll References: Arps, Frederic S. E., Sophia Ciavarella, Jelena Vermilion, Rebecca Hammond, Kelendria Nation, Siobhan Churchill, Meghan Smith, et al. 2021. "Report-Health and Well Being among Trans and Non-Binary People Doing Sex Work." Trans PULSE Canada (blog). March 30, 2021. -being-among-trans-and-non-binary-people-doing-sex-work/ Trans PULSE Canada CBC Hamilton Eva Salinas Bobby Hristova @JoeyColeman Noelle-Neumann, E. (1991). The theory of public opinion: The concept of the spiral of silence. In J. A. Anderson (Ed.), Communication yearbook. (pp. 256–308). Sage Publications, Inc. Jesus of Nazareth. (AD 29). The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) CC: @MatthewGreenNDP Tammy Hwang Cameron Kroetsch Alex Wilson Lisa Hepfner @CraigCassar Tammy Hwang @ChadCollinsMP Sarah Jama Filomena Tassi Brad Clark (Ward 9) Ted McMeekin MikeSpadafora Neil Lumsden Esther@EstherPauls Maureen Wilson (She / Her) John-Paul Danko Jeff Beattie Nrinder Nann @shaw_sandy Monique Taylor Migrant Workers Alliance for Change Migrant Rights Network #StatusForAll

TS Jelena Vermilion - 💉FULLY VACCINATED x5 💉MPx2

25,758 次观看 • 2 年前

War Diary Day 1,391 Blaise Metreweli, the Chief of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, sticks it to the Killer in The Kremlin. And all his creepy helpers. I agree with every fucking word. VPDFO! (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered) 📷 Welcome inside MI6. This iconic building, familiar to movie fans everywhere, is the home of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency. But whilst hundreds of my team pass through the entry pods each day, the truth is that most of our work happens many miles away from this place - out of sight, hidden from the world, undercover, recruiting and running agents who choose to place their trust in us, sharing secrets to make the UK and the world safer. You might pass one of our officers on the street or sit next to them on a plane when you’re about to set off on an adventure of your own, or in a foreign city taking selfies by the sights. Whether it’s in seemingly everyday places, or on the front line embedded with our military, MI6 is there. In my first few weeks, I’ve heard repeatedly that MI6 is trusted and respected globally, two things that we never take for granted. We are seen as a source of hard power, soft influence and rapid innovation. I’ve also heard that people want to believe in MI6. It’s my job to make sure they can. Today, I want to talk about human agency. We all have choices to make about how we deal with the undercurrents shaping our world. About how, in our new, faster, more dangerous and technology-mediated world, it will be our rediscovery of our shared humanity, our ability to listen, and our courage that will determine how our future unfolds. Conflict is not inevitable. Understanding human nature is in my bones. From a family shaped by devastating conflict, I grew up with a deep sense of gratitude for the UK’s precious democracy and freedom. I spent much of my childhood overseas, which is where my passion for travel and adventure began. I studied anthropology, and later psychology and AI, exploring how we make sense of the world and each other. It’s why I was drawn to MI6: it offers strong purpose, a chance to serve and a belief in the positive power of human connection. Like the Service, I’m operational to my very core. Over nearly three decades, my career has involved recruiting and running agents in hostile territory; and leading operations in warzones to defuse threats and support peace. Always in teams, always learning from others. Over the years, I’ve worked with hundreds of brilliant partners – and indeed occasionally those we’d label as adversaries – across dozens of countries, tackling weapons proliferation and terrorism. During my time at MI5, I saw close up what it takes to defend Britain from being targeted by hostile states. You’ll find many like me in my organisation: powerfully motivated to protect our precious country; curious about how our world is changing, joining dots and taking action, across domains. But it was in my last role as ‘Q’, where it was my job to turn emerging technologies from threats to opportunities that I could most see the world changing. As I dug deep into data and extraordinary innovation, I could see how technology was rapidly reshaping not just our capabilities but also conflict and trust, truth and global power. Let me lay out how I see the global issues MI6 must tackle. Because the greatest danger we face is to misunderstand the nature of the problem. Let’s be in no doubt. Our world is more dangerous and contested now than it has been for decades. Conflict is evolving and trust eroding, just as new technologies spur both competition and dependence. We are being contested from sea to space, from the battlefield to the boardroom. And even our brains, as disinformation manipulates our understanding of each other and ourselves. Across the globe, we are now confronting not one single danger, but an interlocking web of security challenges – military, technological, social, ethical even – each shaping the other in complex ways. We are now operating in a space between peace and war. This is not a temporary state or a gradual, inevitable evolution. Our world is being actively remade, with profound implications for national and international security. Institutions which were designed in the ashes of the Second World War are being challenged. New blocs and identities forming and alliances reshaping. Multipolar competition in tension with multilateral cooperation. But there’s something distinctive that will make this change unlike any other: the impact of advanced technologies, which will accelerate the pace and scale of every threat and opportunity, and increasingly, individualise them too. Advances in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and quantum computing are not only revolutionising economies but rewriting the reality of conflict, as they ‘converge’ to create science-fiction-like tools. There’s incredible promise in all this for all of us, from green technologies to hyper-personalised medicine. But also peril. AI-powered robots and drones are brilliant for scaled manufacturing but devastating on the battlefield. Discoveries that cure disease can also create new weapons. And as states race for tech supremacy, or as some algorithms become as powerful as states, those hyper-personalised tools could become a new vector for conflict and control. Power itself is becoming more diffuse, more unpredictable as control over these technologies is shifting from states to corporations, and sometimes to individuals. And at the same time, the foundations of trust in our societies are eroding. Information, once a unifying force, is increasingly weaponised. Falsehood spreads faster than fact, dividing communities and distorting reality. We live in an age of hyper-connection yet profound isolation. The algorithms flatter our biases and fracture our public squares. And as trust collapses, so does our shared sense of truth – one of the greatest losses a society can suffer. The defining challenge of the twenty-first century is not simply who wields the most powerful technologies, but who guides them with the greatest wisdom. Our security, our prosperity, and our humanity depend on it. Our world is being remade. And for the first time, we are all at the heart of it. My Service must now operate in this new context too: not just expert on hostile states, terrorism, proliferation and more, but also fluent in technology, able to anticipate the second and third order effects of advances that reshape the world in minutes not months. And as China will be a central part of the global transformation taking place this century, it is essential that we, as MI6, continue to inform the government’s understanding of China’s rise and the implications for UK national security. I’m going to break with tradition and won’t give you a global threat tour, but will focus here on Putin’s Russia. We all continue to face the menace of an aggressive, expansionist and revisionist Russia, seeking to subjugate Ukraine and harass NATO. I find it harrowing that hundreds of thousands have died, with the toll mounting every day, because of Putin’s historical distortions and his compromised desire for respect. He is dragging out negotiations and shifting the cost of war onto his own population. But Putin should be in no doubt, our support is enduring. The pressure we apply on Ukraine’s behalf will be sustained. Because it is fundamental not just to European sovereignty and security but to global stability. Alongside the grinding war, Russia is testing us in the grey zone with tactics that are just below the threshold of war. It’s important to understand their attempts to bully, fearmonger and manipulate, because it affects us all. I am talking about: Cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. Drones buzzing airports and bases. Aggressive activity in our seas, above and below the waves. State-sponsored arson and sabotage. Propaganda and influence operations that crack open and exploit fractures within societies. Countering this activity is the work of intelligence and security services across Europe and the globe. And as the Foreign Secretary made clear in a speech last week, the UK is defending itself against this Russian information warfare – sanctioning Russian media outlets pushing Kremlin narratives. The export of chaos is a feature not a bug in this Russian approach to international engagement; and we should be ready for this to continue until Putin is forced to change his calculus. So, how should we respond? It’s not enough now just to understand the world. We must shape it too. MI6 is well-positioned to respond to these threats and wider global instability. And we will continue to evolve, just as we have throughout our long history. The UK government has invested in our intelligence agencies and we are all using our unique powers to keep the British people safe. Our ‘open and connected’ partnerships across the UK Intelligence Community, with HMGCC, NSSIF and the wider tech ecosystem in the UK will become even more important – because in the digital battleground, no single organisation can prevail alone. As a global agency, MI6’s inbuilt strength is our partners and our people. The risks I have set out require us to work ever more closely with our colleagues in MI5, GCHQ and in defence and diplomacy. But also with our Five Eyes partners, with the E3, the EU, NATO, those across the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific and beyond. And with many valued partners whose identity needs to remain secret. Together, we integrate our diverse talent, data and tools to meet the threat. AI is a domain in which we will excel, using the technology to augment, not replace, our human skills. Every digital trace, every byte of data, every algorithmic decision has implications for the safety of the lives of the courageous people who work with us as officers and agents, and for the UK’s strategic advantage. Mastery of technology will infuse everything we do. Not just in our labs, but in the field, in our tradecraft, and even more importantly, in the mindset of every officer. We will become as comfortable with lines of code as we are with human sources, as fluent in Python as we are in multiple other languages. Under my leadership, MI6 will continue to attract Britain’s best and most creative minds: linguists and data scientists, case officers and engineers, behavioural experts and technologists. We need people who walk in the shoes and get in the heads of our adversaries. We need people who think differently, challenge assumptions, and act decisively. All can thrive and make a difference at MI6. At an operational level, we will sharpen our edge and impact with audacity, tapping into – if you like – our historical SOE instincts. We’re at our best when we’re hustling to make things happen, because our intelligence is most valuable when it changes reality on the ground. We will take calculated risks, where the prize is significant and the national interest clear. We will never stoop to the tactics of our opponents. But we must seek to outplay them. In every domain. In every way. So intelligence must drive action. Action must deliver advantage. And advantage must serve Britain’s security and prosperity. But at the core, our deeper contribution is also our simplest – how we unlock human agency. Our fast-paced, tech and threat-infused world now generates more heat than light. As nations retrench and rearm, we are losing opportunities to listen to what’s really going on. I’ve seen time and again throughout my career, that this is where MI6 matters most: we listen and we hear. We understand, because we take time to learn languages and cultures, complex technical and historical detail, immerse ourselves in what’s really driving the situation. Across the globe, right now, our officers are finding people with the courage to step forward, and they are taking time to sit and listen to break these tightening cycles of violence. They listen for nuance, for connection, for opportunity. Over the years, I’ve listened to terrorists who have told us how to defuse the bomb because they know that more violence won’t help. To proliferators and smugglers who’ve told us where to find the dangerous material, motivated to protect their children’s future. To people trapped in authoritarian regimes who know, deep down, that their humanity is being chipped away – and that telling us what’s really going on is an important release, allowing us all to find better ways to navigate our changing world. So, we will work with our agents. And we will continue to engage directly, and with respect, with states and organisation currently working against us. Away from the glare of the media, we will use MI6’s convening power wherever we can to make a material difference, bringing parties together to defuse tensions. But the response to the increasing risks we face won’t be delivered by the UK intelligence community alone. Wider society has a role to play too. That includes work taking place in schools across the country so our children don’t get duped by information manipulation. Let’s all check sources, consider evidence, and be alive to those algorithms that trigger intense reactions, like fear. It also means everyone in society really understanding the world we are in – a world where terrorists plot against us, where our enemies fearmonger, bully and manipulate, and the front line is everywhere. Online, on our streets, in our supply chains, in the minds and on the screens of our citizens. We must all stand together against this. As we do today with our friends in Australia after the shocking antisemitic terrorist attack this weekend. My thoughts -and those of my whole organisation – are with the family, friends and loved ones of the victims. Light will always win over darkness. In rising to meet these challenges we, in MI6, will remain anchored to our values: courage, creativity, respect and integrity. And to our principles: accountability and trust are not constraints on our work; they are the foundations of our legitimacy with the British public. Recently, I had the privilege of meeting and thanking a foreign agent who has worked with us for decades, taking extraordinary risks to help keep the UK safe. I asked why. They said simply, ‘Your values. Your integrity and respect. None of us have a future without them’. This moment reinforced to me that we must remain a very human agency. And so, to sustain that trust, MI6 will continue to be more open. Not for the sake of visibility, but because it matters – and as my MI5 counterpart Sir Ken McCallum said recently - because it is a strength. We will continue the practice of speaking publicly, broaden our channels of engagement, and sustain our focus on attracting the most diverse talent to join our Service. Transparency does not mean revealing what must remain secret. It means showing the British people who we are, what we stand for, and why our work matters. We need your trust and support for the difficult and often dangerous work our agents pursue, every day of the year. In an age of uncertainty, one constant remains: the choices made by human beings still determine the shape of the world. Yes, technology can illuminate possibilities: but information requires judgement; complexity demands clarity; and only people can decide which path to follow. The United Kingdom’s global voice has never rested solely on strength – it has rested on trust, principle, and the ability to understand others as well as ourselves. That is also the essence of intelligence: not simply knowing the world, but interpreting it through a uniquely human lens. Ours is the quiet service, the hidden service. It is one rooted in a profound belief that when human beings act with purpose and integrity, they can steady a faltering world. When the Berlin Wall fell, it was our shared belief in freedom that carried Europe forward. When acts of terror targeted open societies, it was intelligence, cooperation and resolve that preserved them. And when adversaries blur fact and falsehood, our task is to defend the space where truth can still stand. As we step into the future, the tools at our disposal will evolve. But what will always matter most is the human element – the person who stands in the shadows and says: this is right, and that is wrong. That choice – the exercise of human agency – has shaped our world before, and it will shape it again. Because in the end, it is not what we can do that defines us, but what we choose to do. Thank you. Published 15 December 2025

John Sweeney

42,257 次观看 • 7 个月前