Britannia Radio

CANADA: Govt Threatens Tar Sands Activists with Anti-Terror Laws 'The provincial government in Alberta, Canada is threatening to unleash its counterterrorism plan if activists continue using civil disobedience to protest the tar sands, Canada's fastest source of greenhouse gas emissions.' Read more...

Miliband to be EU Foreign Secretary? 'David Miliband, the foreign secretary, is the subject of growing talk in Brussels, Paris, Berlin and Scandinavia that he is in line to become Europe's first foreign minister. The post of high representative is one of the key innovations of the Lisbon treaty, which is on the brink of ratification and aimed at streamlining the way the EU works and increasing Europe's clout in the world. A decision on the job is expected within weeks.' Read more... Pilger - Gordon Brown's Fire Sale Of Public Assets 'The postal workers’ struggle is as vital for democracy as any national event in recent years. The campaign against them is part of a historic shift from the last vestiges of political democracy in Britain to a corporate world of insecurity and war. If the privateers running the Post Office are allowed to win, the regression that now touches all lives bar the wealthy will quicken its pace. A third of British children now live in low-income or impoverished families. One in five young people is denied hope of a decent job or education. And now the Brown government is to mount a “fire sale” of public assets and services worth £16bn. Unmatched since Margaret Thatcher’s transfer of public wealth to a new gross elite, the sale, or theft, will include the Channel Tunnel rail link, bridges, the student loan bank, school playing fields, libraries and public housing estates. The plunder of the National Health Service and public education is already under way.' Read more... Armed Officers Placed on Routine Foot Patrol for First Time 'A hand-picked team from CO19, the Metropolitan Police's elite firearms unit, will walk the beat in gun crime hotspots where armed gangs have turned entire estates into "no go" zones. Local politicians and anti-gun campaigners have reacted with anger at the news that the officers will carry Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns – capable of firing up to 800 rounds-per-minute – and Glock semi-automatic pistols.' Read more...