RAWLINGS: Kofi Adams Says Communicators who Attack Him will be sanctioned

Jerry Rawlings and wife, Nana Konadu

By George Nyavor

As the National Democratic Congress (NDC) works towards reconciliation, National Organiser of the party, Kofi Adams, has warned against verbal attacks on the party’s founder, Jerry John Rawlings.

Mr Adams said former President Rawlings remains “a huge tower “ and “the fountain of knowledge” in the party and urged the rank and file of the party to see him as a key factor in efforts to reorganise the party.

“I believe that those who have had verbal diarrhoea and gone on all kinds of attacks and talking anyhow [against Mr Rawlings]; such persons will have to be advised to cease or will not have to speak on behalf of the party...we are not going to tolerate such things,” he said.

Kofi Adams made the remark on current affairs programme PM Express on the Joy News channel (Multi TV) Tuesday evening.

The current leadership of the main opposition party has been seeking to mend a broken relationship with the founder of the party, following scathing criticism he made against the party leadership before and during the 2016 general elections.

Former President Rawlings had, among other things, advocated for the current leaders of the party to be replaced, accusing them of lacking integrity.

His wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, could not stand what she has described as indiscipline and corruption in the party and has formed her own party, the National Democratic Party.

Kofi Adams

Some NDC communicators have sought to hit back at the Rawlingses with scalding remarks.

Mr Rawlings revealed on June 4 that he once contemplated leaving the party because of "very cruel insults and humiliations" against him.

However, recommendations of a committee that was tasked to unravel the cause of NDC's defeat in the 2016 general election have mentioned peace-building as central to the party's efforts to reorganise itself.

The Kwesi Botchwey Committee report said the party's leadership must embark on a healing tour, an endeavour Kofi Adams has revealed Mr Rawlings will play a crucial part in.

Kofi Adams explained that those who have attacked the party’s founder have done so out of ignorance, adding “many of them either don’t understand where we have come from or need to realise that sometimes you need to go back and ask yourself what exactly he [Mr Rawlings] is saying.”

“This is someone [Rawlings] who will stand by you any day and any time insofar as you are not offending the truth,” Kofi Adams, a former aide of Mr Rawlings, said.

Editorial

KUFUOR IS WRONG

We recall the period in which Mr J. A. Kufuor was struggling to become the President of Ghana.

In those days he had no qualms about forging an alliance with Nkrumaists and even agreeing that former Vice President Kow Arkaah should be his running mate.

Those were the days former President Kufuor praised Nkrumah to the high heavens for his vision and deeds aimed at uniting Africa and accelerating the pace of the continent’s development.

The Kufuor campaign even went to the extent of faking photographs of the former President sitting with Nkrumah.

These photographs were printed on billboards and placed at vantage positions in Accra and elsewhere.

Now, the same J.A Kufuor says that Nkrumah was a dictator who destroyed the foundations of democracy in Ghana and the Ghanaian economy.

Mr Kufuor says that Nkrumah even built a prison, 22 kilometers from Accra to detain his opponents.

The Insight completely disagrees with former President Kufuor.

Those who were detained at the Medium Security Prison in Nsawam were mainly terrorists responsible for bomb explosions and assassination attempts. They were the very scum of our politics.

As for the state of the economy, it must be placed on record that the reckless neo-liberal agenda pursued by Rawlings and Kufuor brought us here.

Local News:

Let’s protect natural resources - EPA

By Afedzi Abdullah

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has called for an increased stakeholder collaborations towards the sustainable management of the country’s natural resources.

It said the management of the natural resources in the country was a shared responsibility, which required that individuals and relevant stakeholders played their respective roles while the EPA took a lead role.

Mr Ebenezer Pinkrah, Central Regional Director of EPA who made the call noted that the country’s natural resources had been carelessly handled and recklessly over exploited to the extent that they had become polluted and drastically reduced to extinction.

Mr Pinkrah was speaking at a news conference as part of activities to mark this year’s World Environmental Day celebration in Cape Coast.

The global theme for this year is “Connecting people to nature in the city and on land from the pole to the equator” whilst the national theme is “Connecting Ghanaians to nature from north to south”.

He noted that the Agency’s capacity to perform its mandated roles had reduced drastically as a result of the mismanagement of the resources in question, causing serious health problems for humans.

The EPA has in this regard implored all Ghanaians to change their habits and adopt efficient and sustainable natural resource management practices to safeguard the environment for posterity.

Mr Pinkrah said natural resources depended on humans for their habitats and livelihood and therefore behoved on them to protect, conserve and enhance the natural systems.

He said the EPA sought to use the celebration to connect Ghanaians to nature and sensitise them on effective ways of utilising natural resources to minimise the adverse effects of illegal mining on water bodies.

Another issue of great concern was the springing up of illegal structures, mostly as bars and eateries along the beaches of Cape Coast in recent times, a situation which experts said could have health implications for nearby communities.

Responding to questions as to what the EPA was doing about the development, Mr Pinkrah said a definite decision had been reached by stakeholders to stop the operations at the beach to protect the beach front.

GNA

Free SHS will drive Ghana’s development - President Akufo-Addo

Nana Akufo Addo

By Ken Sackey

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has indicated that education and skills training are the catalyst to empower and provide opportunities to the youth to help drive Ghana’s development.

He noted that the countries that had done well, even without natural resources, were those that had invested in education and skills training, and it was for the reason that his government had found and committed resources to begin the Free Senior High School policy in September, 2017.

“So as from September this year, anybody entering the public Senior High School system is going to get their education free. The burden is being taken on by the State. We are doing so because we believe that having access to education, empowering our human capital, is our biggest challenge,” he said when addressing the Ghanaian community resident in Belgium, ahead of the conduct of the meetings of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals Advocates Group of Eminent Personalities.

“If we are able to do that, within the shortest possible time, and expose our young people to education, especially to new digital technology, it becomes the fastest way to bridge the gap and pull ourselves out from the poverty in which we are in today,” he stated.

He reiterated that “the commitment for Free SHS was not a political gimmick. I kept saying it in my campaign, but my opponents will not agree with me. It was not a political gimmick. It is a development tool for our country, so that we put the country onto the path of progress and prosperity.”

On the revival of the National Health Insurance Scheme, President Akufo-Addo noted that his government has found it necessary to find the money to starve the scheme off collapse.

“The scheme has been threatened by mismanagement and by huge indebtedness. We are now having to liquidate systematically the arrears so that the service providers can be encouraged to provide services for NHIS card holders. I am hoping that within 18 months, all the arrears of the NHIS would have been settled, so that we can have a secure future for the scheme,” he said.

Speaking on the vexed issue of illegal mining, the President acknowledged that Ghana, for many centuries, had been a country of mineral deposits and the exploitation of minerals.

“We are not trying to ban mining in Ghana. We cannot do that. The mineral deposits in our country are part of our heritage, and are meant to be exploited for the benefit of this and future generations,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo stated that his government would not permit “is to allow the mining to compromise the future of our country, compromise our environment and destroy and pollute our water bodies. We cannot do that. If we do that, we will wake up tomorrow with no country to live in. I am not going to be part of any such arrangement.”

He continued, “So, we have identified illegal small-scale mining as the target for the fight against galamsey. We want to make sure that not only do we stop it, but the people who are involved in it find alternative employment.”

With the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Frimpong Boateng, heading a Cabinet Committee which is identifying alternative sources of livelihood for persons involved in illegal mining activities, President Akufo-Addo noted that the proposals which were in the pipeline include using “galamseyers” to reclaim the lands, as well as offering them incentives to go into farming.

“Having begun it, we are not turning back until we make sure that our future is protected,” he stressed.

There is need for sex education for adolescence - Lecturer

By Comfort Sena Fetrie/Rosemary Wayo

Professor Akwasi Kumi-Kyereme, a lecturer at the University of Cape Coast on Tuesday called for a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education to ensure healthy sexual and reproductive lives of adolescents.

He said sex education must include accurate information on a range of age-appropriate topics that should be participatory to foster knowledge, attitudes, values and practical skills to enable adolescents to develop positive views of their sexuality.

Prof Kumi-Kyereme made the call in Tamale during the dissemination of a study on Sexual and Reproductive Health Education forum organised by Guttmacher Institute in collaboration with the University of Cape Coast.

He said about 50 per cent of adolescents still engage in early sex across the country despite education.

He stated that 27 per cent of males and 23 per cent of females from 15 to 17 years have already had sex before the time of survey. 

The forum held in Tamale was to inform policy and practice on the teaching of topics on sexual reproductive health in senior high schools (SHS) in selected regions in the country which includes: Greater Accra, Northern and Brong- Ahafo.

He said some of the adolescents likely started having sex before they were taught the skills and knowledge they need to practice safe sex and also lead on healthy sexual and reproductive lives in their schools.

He recommended that stakeholders need to provide the adolescents with accurate information on SRH early in the schools to reduce sexual initiation.

Prof Kumi-Kyereme said in the SHS, SRH education topics should be put in core subjects or made as stand-alone topics in schools to early sex among the adolescents.  

Madam Joana Nerquaye-Tetteh, Private Consultant to Guttmacher Institute called on NGOs, parents, school heads, community leaders and religious leaders to assist stakeholders by explaining and sensationalising sexuality among adolescents in their community.

She said there was need to improve training and support for teachers to a comprehensive education on sexuality.

Guttmacher Institute is an American based NGO that researches on Reproductive Health Policy globally.

GNA

Ghana recognises the benefits and risks associated with chemicals - Minister

Prof. Frimpong Boateng

By Morkporkpor Anku

Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, says Ghana recognises the benefits of chemicals as well as the risks associated with the product throughout their lifecycles.

He said as a developing country: “We depend on chemicals from agriculture, extractive industries, service and manufacturing industries.”

Professor Frimpong-Boateng was speaking at the opening of a two-day workshop on ‘Sustainable Chemistry: Stocktaking and Potential in Ghana’ in Accra.

The workshop organised by the Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety will introduce and examine the concept of sustainable chemistry and explore international good practices evolving among the concept.

It will also investigate existing approaches to sustainable chemistry in various sectors from the public sector to the private industry to research and academia.

“We import most of the chemicals we need and use, also older near-end-of-life electrical and electronic gadgets are imported into our country,” he added.

He said compounding these issues was the limited capacity for training, awareness creation and education on the sound management of chemicals and waste in poorer and vulnerable populations.

He said these and other emerging issues happen because the country’s growing economy did not have internal controls and external surveillance systems.

Prof Frimpong-Boateng said: “Our peasant farmers and other end-users of chemicals, most of the time, ignore the use of appropriate personal protective equipment and fails to observe instructions for the use as prescribed on the label.

The Minister said the emergence of cancers and other diseases, which were hitherto foreign to the societies, were mainly due to lack of awareness and education on handling and safe use of chemicals and pesticides.

He said the use of traditional or indigenous knowledge was important in the development and promotion of the concept of sustainable chemistry.

Ms Cornelia Leuschner, Representative of the Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection, Construction and Nuclear Safety, Germany said the workshop was intended to support key stakeholders in Ghana in raising awareness of the concept of sustainable chemistry and identify best practices.

She said Germany and Ghana were already important partners in international chemicals management and sustainable chemistry activities and would continue this good cooperation.

“We need to conserve our natural resources and biodiversity, secure our energy supply and combat climate change,” she added.

She said they needed sustainable chemistry that connected ambitious environmental and health protection with economic and social development.

She said Ghana had made much progress in capacity building, for instance setting up a National Pesticides Quality Control Laboratory and “we welcome this commitment and will like to discuss a cooperation on this and other projects as part of our future activities”.

Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, Vice-Chancellor, University of Ghana called for the establishment of a chemical fund for the EPA to enable the authority task chemical importers, producers and also use for research.

He urged the Minister of Environment to use his office to push for the establishment of the fund.

“We must look at the contamination of our water bodies, leading to the loss of aquatic lives in the process,” he said.

Winnie Mandela – All We Fought For Have Been Ruined

By Nedu

Thus saith the ex-wife of South Africa’s greatest son, late Nelson Mandela: South Africa is in crisis and, what the freedom fighters fought for, has been messed up.

Winnie Madikizela-Mandel shared the sentiment above when she spoke about Ahmed Kathrada commemoration ceremony at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg.

Ahmed Kathrade, one of the prominent struggle icons in South Africa passed away aged 87. Affirming that Ahmed Kathrada will always be remembered as a symbol of freedom and hope, Winnie expressed that South Africa is troubled and in crisis. She said: “This is not just another loss of a struggle stalwart, this was a rehash of Madiba’s passing and it is very, very emotional.

I just saw all over again what I saw on that day, the 5th of December 2013, when Madiba left us. “(Kathrade’s) departing brings finality to the chapter on the history of our struggle. One, of course, has fears for our country. I wish he hadn’t left at this particular time. I can imagine how pained he was that he left at this particular time.

“All what we fought for is not what is going on right now. It is a tragedy that he lived and saw what was happening. “We cannot pretend like South Africa is not in crisis, our country is in crisis and anyone who cannot see that is just bluffing themselves.”

Meanwhile, the Economic Freedom Fighters said that they are immensely saddened by the passing of the struggle stalwart. EFF charged South Africans to emulate the selflessness of Uncle Kathy saying: “As a country, we must all learn from the selflessness of Uncle Kathy, always prioritizing the marginalized and ensuring that their voices are heard and respected. “We must adopt an uncompromising posture at all times in the fight against corruption as he did.

We must be prepared, as he did, to pay even with our lives and imprisonment if needs be as he did.” “We call on all South Africans to unite as we bid Ahmed Kathrada a final goodbye,” stated the Fighters.

DON’T KILL MOSQUITOES- Professor

A professor has called for an end to the killing of mosquitoes, stating that they are friends and allies to humans and we could learn a lot from them.

Adeolu Ande, a Professor of Entomology at the University of Ilorin, made this known in a paper he presented at a public seminar organised by University of Ilorin.

He said that, rather than kill mosquitoes, man should discover ways to manage them because they would exist whether we like them or not and will continue to source blood from humans.

He called on zoologists to fulfill their role of being foster parents of animals in the Zoo because that's what's expected of them, adding that they should be familiar with the needs and health status of animals, insects included.

In his paper titled, 'Consider the ways of Ants and be Wise', the entomologist described insects as the “most successful and influential group’’ of organisms in the biosphere.

He said that humans have a lot to learn from insects in order to be wise. He said that insects make positive influence such as; pollination of flowers, sustenance of the ecosystem, serve as a source of silk, act as biological control agents and food source, but lamented that these impacts made by the insects are underplayed and not appreciated, instead we focus on their negative influences which he said are minimal.

He said:

 “Human life is beset with inevitable associations with insects that have over the years influenced human destiny positively and negatively. Negative influences, such a disease transmission, crop losses, food spoilage, economic losses and nuisance value caused by less than 5 per cent of insect species have been exaggerated by man."

Ande said that man deliberately misunderstood the role of mosquitoes and frequently described them as causing the diseases they transmit.

He said:

 “In the actual sense, mosquitoes are equally sick but inadvertently and unwillingly convey pathogens that are the real causal agents of these diseases. The female mosquito could be described as an example of a true mother who is forced to undertake suicide mission in its bid to provide for its unborn children. The adult female mosquitoes have exceptional value for child raising hence the level of commitment and risk they take on the mission that entails decision between life and death. The after effect of this commitment is a well thought out plan that forestalls most of the factors that may stand in the way of raising good children. 

"I am sure most human females will not take comparable decision in the face of similar attendant risks. It is however certain that children born after well thought-out and risky conditions are better posited for quality living than those produced carelessly."

The professor called for improvement in Zoology curriculum in the country to ensure better focus on organisms that feature prominently around man.

Africa:

Africa-Cuba Solidarity Reaffirmed at Namibia Conference

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Close bonds between the people of the African continent and the Caribbean island-nation of Cuba have been centuries in the making.

Africans caught in the Atlantic Slave Trade were taken to Cuba where their presence made an indelible mark on the character of the political, economic and cultural fabric of the country.

Since the 1960s, in the early aftermath of the 1959 seizure of power by revolutionary forces led by Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and others, African independence and transformative struggles have constituted a major factor in Cuban foreign policy. President Castro noted in 1976 that socialist Cuba was populated by a Latin African people opposed to colonialism, racism and imperialism.

This historical tradition was reinforced at a recent conference held in Windhoek, Republic of Namibia which brought together African leaders and Cuban governmental officials to renew ties among the geo-political regions and to chart a way forward in the current period. The Fifth Continental African Conference of Solidarity with Cuba was convened June 6-8 and brought together over 200 delegates from 26 African states under the theme of “Intensifying Solidarity and Continuing the Legacy of Fidel and Che.”

The first of these conferences was held in South Africa in 1995 just one year after the demise of the racist-apartheid system that brought President Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) to power. Subsequent gatherings took place in Ghana during 1997, Angola in 2010 and Ethiopia, the headquarters of the African Union (AU), in 2012.

1967 marks the 50th anniversary of the martyrdom of Che Guevara in Bolivia while he was in the South American country assisting revolutionary forces fighting against the neo-colonial regime which was supported by the United States. The Cuban Revolution from its inception posed a challenge to American imperialist dominance over the Caribbean, South America and other colonial and neo-colonial territories around the world.

In November 2016, 90-year old former President Fidel Castro passed away in Havana. His funeral was attended by many African leaders including Namibian President Hage Geingob who paid tribute to the revolutionary leader in an address to the mourners.

In a statement to the Conference, Namibian deputy Prime Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwahemphasized that:

“The holding of this conference is all the more timely because it is taking place when retrogressive forces are bent on reversing the gains made recently to normalize relations between Cuba and the United States.”

Under the previous U.S. administration of President Barack Obama, the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba after a breach of over 50 years raised expectations of a possible lifting of the economic blockade imposed by Washington in October 1960.

Without the abolition of the blockade relations cannot be fully normalized despite the exchange of diplomats and the reopening of embassies. The U.S. Congress would have to approve the liquidation of the blockade and there are political elements within the legislature which categorically opposes full economic and trade relations with Havana.

Nonetheless, the Fifth Continental African Conference supported the address by Namibian President Hage Geingob who said:

“We applaud the positive development in this respect and we commend the U.S. government and Cuba for their efforts towards normalizing of ties. However, there is still much ground left to cover to ensure the complete lifting of the blockage against Cuba.”

Geingob emphasized the urgency of the conference to develop a unified African strategy in regard to supporting Cuba. In addition, the delegates passed resolutions demanding the return of Guantanamo Bay, which remains over a century later after the so-called Spanish-American war under U.S. control, to the Cuban people.

A co-founder of the ruling Southwest Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) Party, Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, who passed away just days after the conference, noted that:

“Historically, Cuba assisted African countries in the fight against foreign domination. Through this patriotic support, Cuban people have shown us the meaning of solidarity, hence (we should show) our support for Cuba.”

Final Declaration Calls for Continuing Solidarity 

African leaders viewed the current situation involving the status of U.S.-Cuban relations as being critical in light of the political character of the administration in Washington. President Donald Trumpdoes have the prerogative of reversing the reforms instituted by his predecessor.

Therefore, the Conference stressed as a mandate for future actions to

“continue developing and strengthening the Cuba solidarity movement in each one of our countries, struggling for unity and truth …. We demand that Cuba’s right to self-determination and sovereignty, as well as its right to decide the political system of its choice, be respected.”(Granma International, June 7)

Moreover, the struggle to maintain and enhance the independence and sovereignty of Cuba is linked with other countries within the region. In recognizing this reality the conference expanded its scope to encompass other states which have also been under pressure from successive U.S. administrations.

Therefore, the final declaration pledged support to “the causes of all sister countries struggling for a better world. In particular, we pledge our support to Puerto Rico in its struggle for self-determination, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and the people of Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina, and all peoples of the continent defending their sovereignty.”

In attendance as well from Cuba were Fernado González, president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) and Cuban Ambassador in Namibia, Giraldo Mazola.

Historical Tradition of Solidarity and Cooperation

In 1961 in the aftermath of the assassination of Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, Cuban Minister of Economic Planning Che Guevara spoke out strongly in condemnation of the murderous act which was carried out by the U.S., Belgium and other imperialist states utilizing local surrogates. Che during 1965 toured Africa in an effort to build solidarity and make preparations for Cuban internationalists intervention in Congo aimed at supporting the revolutionary forces fighting for the ideals of Lumumba.

Although this mission was not successful, the experience taught profound lessons which laid the foundation for the deployment of Cuban military units a decade later in Angola in defense of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) beginning in October 1975. President Fidel Castro was requested to send support by Angolan President Agostino Neto in the face of an invasion by the South African Defense Forces (SADF), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the surrogate U.S.-backed UNITA and FNLA rebel groups designed to derail the genuine independence of the oil-rich former Portuguese colony.

Cuban Internationalists spent another 13 years in Angola where they assisted in defeating the SADF in a series of battles around Cuito Cuanavale in 1988. After the humiliating losses by the SADF, negotiations began which resulted in the liberation of Namibia, the release of South African political prisoners in 1990 and the transition to non-racial democratic rule in the citadel of apartheid settler-colonialism by 1994.

In recent years, Cuba has educated thousands of African students in universities in the Caribbean socialist state. These students are provided with free tuition and lodging.

During the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) pandemic of 2014, Cuba deployed hundreds of physicians and other healthcare workers to Liberia and Sierra Leone, two of the hardest hit West African states, which was instrumental in turning the tide in efforts to halt and eradicate the crisis. The U.S. was forced to recognize the role of Cuba in the battle against EVD which paved the way for the reopening of diplomatic relations.

Outside of the conference deliberations in Windhoek, the delegates visited historic sites including Heroes Acre and the Museum of Independence on June 7. The participants decided in its conclusion that the Federal Republic of Nigeria will be the venue of the next Continental African Conference in Solidarity with Cuba.

Foreign News:

Why the British Establishment Wants Jeremy Corbyn Buried

Jeremy Corbyn

By Graham Vanbergen

The term “the establishment” refers to leading politicians, senior civil servants, senior barristers and judges, aristocrats, Oxbridge academics, senior clergy, the most important financiers and industrialists, governors of the BBC, members of and top aides to the royal family to mention most, but not all.

The term in this sense is sometimes mistakenly believed to have been coined by the British journalist Henry Fairlie, who in September 1955 in the London magazine ‘The Spectator’ defined that network of prominent, well-connected people as “the Establishment”, explaining: “By the Establishment, I do not only mean the centres of official power—though they are certainly part of it—but rather the whole matrix of official and social relations within which power is exercised”.

Following that, the term, the Establishment, was quickly picked up in newspapers and magazines all over London, making Fairlie famous.  Today, the term ‘the establishment’ is used generally in a negative sense and it’s easy to understand why.

“The British public has become deeply cynical about the political class at Westminster”, states a recent Financial Times editorial.

“Bankers feel they have an ethical duty to steal from taxpayers” – another reads

“Why are we subsidising the royal family at a time of gross inequality” says another headline.

There has been a rising tide of contempt and anger towards bankers, property speculators, hedge fund bosses, politicians and even religious leaders and the royal family.

For instance, membership of Britain’s unelected upper house, the House of Lords has soared from 666 peers in 1999 to nearly 850 today, well in excess of the House of Commons. The Lords is now the second largest parliamentary chamber in the world behind only the Chinese Peoples Congress. Whilst their chamber is 3.5 times larger, it’s population is 18 times the size of ours. The House of Lords is clearly an expanding repository of political patronage for the prime minister and is no longer fit for purpose or for a modern democracy.

It appears that those who lecture the working and middle classes about financial and moral belt-tightening are the very ones up to their necks in corruption and scandals of all kinds, including sex and paedophile rings to name but a few. The Establishment is now under fire.

In the past, these scandals were kept under wraps. They closed ranks to protect themselves. Top judges and police chiefs covered up for wealthy and powerful friends, including politicians. After all, they were from the same social class, shared the same clubs and sent their children to the same private schools, a grotesque example highlighted recently with David Cameron and Lord Ashcroft’s ‘Piggate‘ revelations.

In recent times, the rich have become much wealthier and everyone else poorer. Tories, Liberal Democrats and New Labour fell over themselves to please their friends in the City of London, a gang of speculators who stripped the nation of its prosperity and then paid themselves huge bonuses for having got away with it.

David Cameron is currently at the centre of this group, financed by the rich and super rich who was described in the commons “a dodgy prime minister surrounded by dodgy donors”, who turned a blind eye to tax avoidance by the rich and big business.

In order to keep the reigns of power, the establishment is frightened of one thing and one thing only – Democracy.

Extending real voting options to the poor would obviously present risks to their position. For instance, Conservative statesman Lord Salisbury told parliament in 1866, Giving working-class people the vote would, he stated, tempt them to pass “laws with respect to taxation and property especially favourable to them, and therefore dangerous to all other classes”. Today, you can hear exactly the same narrative against the new labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a scathing attack by media barons and corporate executives along with politicians and even military generals.

The establishment is characterised by those with ideas that legitimise and protect the concentration of wealth and power in very few hands. The establishment do not want democracy at all but a veneer of democracy must be provided.

It is because the establishment is made up of politicians who devise our laws, police to enforce those laws, corporate entities who are increasingly dominating economic performance (unpaid taxes for instance) and a smaller band of media barons who also set the terms of debate and the result of that debate that we see a closed shop network construct itself.

A conflict of interest of epic proportions. It is here that we find a common psychology and shared understanding.

The scandal surrounding the money laundering and tax evasion operations at HSBC exposes the links between a corrupt banking elite and a rotten political establishment. Lord Green, former head of HSBC, was at the centre of this tax dodgers’ row. He chaired HSBC until December 2010, when he became a Conservative trade minister and was given a peerage by David Cameron. You can see a major conflict of interest here unless afflicted with total sensory deprivation.

Lord Green was then given staunch backing by the Church of England. Needless to say, these preachers of great moral fortitude have a long tradition in protecting their own. Lord Green, a millionaire banker is a devout Christian and ordained Anglican priest. The archbishops of Canterbury and York said they were grateful to the former HSBC boss for his “contribution and expertise”. One could easily assume this to be a clan of hypocrites that have attacked politicians for failing to provide a “fresh moral vision”, but then act no differently.

Another religious entity, The Vatican, has large investments with the Rothschilds of Britain, France and America, with Credit Suisse in London and Zurich with Morgan Bank and Chase-Manhattan Bank and others in the US and UK. All of these organisations have been involved in global, anti-social criminality adopting fraud as the basis of its profit centres, especially in London.

The Catholic church is the biggest financial power, wealth accumulator and property owner in existence. She is a greater possessor of material riches (such as property and gold bullion) than any other single institution, corporation, bank, giant trust, government or state of the whole globe. With covering up sex crimes, inappropriate behaviour among prelates, political infighting and the existence of a clandestine gay cabal at the highest levels, the Catholic Church has a long shameful history and is the epitome of the establishment.

The crimes of the establishment are racking up at an alarming rate. However, if you get caught without paying your TV licence fee, laws designed to catch terrorists are used by the BBC to ensure your good behaviour.

In the meantime, one can take the example of how the establishment works when it blames society for all it’s troubles as a diversionary tactic. The media have managed to make the British population believe that 27% of social security money has been fraudulently gained when the figure is actually 0.7%. The media barons, and there are only five of them in Britain who own 80% of printed media outlets, don’t live in Britain and none pay tax in Britain but they want to continue pillaging Britain and get away with it.

This same tactic provides cover for the government to impose austerity that has caused the biggest transfer of wealth from the vulnerable, the poor, working class and middle classes directly in a route north.

The establishment are largely responsible for a neoliberal ideology that is so damaging to society as a whole – It’s the business model that fits. They use the term ‘economic freedom’ as if this is to somehow benefit us all, which it rarely does. For example, almost universally, this philosophy is used to transfer state assets to profit driven business (privatisation) that has enriched the few and made everyone else pay.

If the political system remains committed to the type of capitalism that exists in Britain today, it will always end up justifying a system that produces a mega-rich and privileged elite. Hence, why Jeremy Corbyn is such a threat to the establishment.

Jeremy Corbyn looks like the first senior politician who will not be corrupted by the establishment. Bankers will not be funding the party. He will not support war. He doesn’t support Israel, He is not religious and doesn’t believe in the monarchy. He will be the first prime minister (if elected) for decades that does not, and probably will not support the establishment.

So frightened of Corbyn, the establishment is now mobilising their entire resourcefullness at him, evidenced by a threatened military coup – not quite akin to Chile in the 1970’s but an extreme tactic to say the least, one spawned from desperation for sure.

The crisis of extreme, out of control ‘capitalism’ simply exposes the rottenness of the system. British capitalism has become casino capitalism, based upon property speculation, banking and financial services. In fact, the services sector now provides 80% of business activity in Britain leaving millions without meaningful work or income.

Extreme capitalism means a concentration of wealth at one pole, and poverty and degradation at the other with the bit in the middle being eviscerated. This is where the establishment languish. Jeremy Corbyn does not fit in. The stakes are very high.

The original source of this article is TruePublica