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global justice now
Starmer Condemned for Pushing 'Cringeworthy' Trade Deal With Lax Tech Regulations
"A tech trade deal with Trump would roll out the red carpet to tech billionaire oligarchy," said one critic.
Feb 27, 2025
Rights campaigners in the United Kingdom on Thursday greeted the news that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had formally invited U.S. President Donald Trump to the U.K. for a state visit with a call for critics to "take to the streets" as they did during Trump's first term, as advocates condemned Starmer for "cozying up to a dangerous and megalomaniac U.S. president."
"This is the latest embarrassing step in Starmer's attempts to toady to Trump and provide a cloak of respectability to Trumpism," said the Stop Trump Coalition. "The British people reject Trumpism and all those in power who appease Trump. History will not be kind to this club of Trumpism cheerleaders."
Nick Dearden, director of the anti-poverty campaign group Global Justice Now, added that critics plan to "welcome" the U.S. president "in the traditional manner" after Starmer presented Trump with an official invitation from King Charles.
Starmer invited the president during his first meeting at the White House since Trump was elected to serve a second term in November, which came as a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation to authorize comprehensive trade talks between the two countries regarding "tariff and nontariff barriers affecting any industry, product, or service sector."
Ahead of the meeting, Starmer told reporters that his message to Trump would be "really simple, that there is no more important relationship for the United Kingdom [than the U.S.], in defense, in security, in trade, in tech, in finance, and so much more."
"We are reforming permitting, getting things built, reducing barriers to investment and growth. And we're open for business, open for investment, and we're determined to help U.S. innovators thrive in the United Kingdom," said Starmer. "So my message is we want to work with you, we want to welcome you to Britain, we want a new partnership, because our history shows that when we work together, great things happen."
The comments were indicative of Starmer's push for cooperation with the U.S. on artificial intelligence and other "advanced technologies," which the new British ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mandelson, has dubbed a plan to "Make Our Economies Great Again," or MEGA.
Dearden called the proposal "cringeworthy" ahead of Starmer's meeting.
"We need to stop this," he said. "A tech trade deal with Trump would roll out the red carpet to tech billionaire oligarchy."
Global Justice Now earlier this month denounced Starmer and Trump for refusing to join 60 international signatories in supporting a declaration backing "inclusive and sustainable" AI at a summit in Paris, with U.S. Vice President JD Vance saying the Trump administration objected to "excessive regulation" of technology and critics suggesting the U.K. Labour government was attempting to curry favor with Trump.
Dearden said last week that any trade negotiations with the U.S. were likely to see Trump "pushing the demands of Big Tech oligarchs who want to avoid tax and regulation in the U.K."
"People in the U.K. don't want to see a wrecking ball taken to our regulations, standards, and public services, especially when we'e talking about new technologies like AI where we're only just beginning to get to grips with the dangers," said Dearden.
The U.K. is pushing to avoid the tariffs Trump has threatened for Canadian, Mexican, and E.U. imports. Trump said earlier this month that he believed differences with the U.K. on trade "can be worked out." He said Thursday that the tariffs targeting Canada and Mexico are set to take effect next week.
Dearden warned last week that with trade talks taking place behind closed doors, "tech titans" will be empowered "to make their demands away from the public gaze."
"Any potential for a Trump trade deal," he said, "must be taken off the table immediately."
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37 Groups Demand Foreign Secretary Clarify UK Definition of 'Genocide'
David Lammy's recent comment to Parliament, the coalition said, "at best, has injected a deeply troubling ambiguity in respect of these pivotal issues in light of the mass atrocities perpetrated against civilians in Gaza."
Nov 05, 2024
Fallout over remarks that David Lammy, the U.K.'s secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth, and development affairs, recently made to the House of Commons about the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip continued on Tuesday with a letter from 37 rights organizations.
"We call on the foreign secretary, as a matter of urgency, to make a statement clarifying the government's understanding of i) genocide in international law; ii) the scope of the U.K.'s international obligations pursuant to the Genocide Convention and Rome Statute; and iii) what steps must be taken to fulfill such obligations," the coalition wrote.
The groups pointed to an exchange between Lammy, of the Labour Party, and Conservative Member of Parliament Nick Timothy on October 28, when the foreign secretary said that the way words like genocide are being used now "undermines the seriousness of that term."
Israel faces a South Africa-led genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its 13-month assault on Gaza, which has killed at least 43,391 Palestinians and wounded another 102,347, according to officials in the Hamas-governed enclave. The ICJ initially ordered Israel to "take all measures within its power" to uphold its obligations under the Genocide Convention in January.
Lammy's response to Timothy last week, "at best, has injected a deeply troubling ambiguity in respect of these pivotal issues in light of the mass atrocities perpetrated against civilians in Gaza," the coalition argued Tuesday. He "chose to undermine international law and answer in opposition to the International Court of Justice."
"If Labour is indeed the party of international law, Foreign Secretary David Lammy must align with, rather than undermine, the courts."
Despite Lammy's suggestion, the Genocide Convention contains no numerical threshold and "is clear that the crime of genocide is not only perpetrated through mass killing," the groups noted, highlighting Israeli attacks on food production, water infrastructure, healthcare facilities, and civilian housing, shelters, and camps.
In northern Gaza, "Palestinian civilians are being killed through starvation and dehydration, disease, deprivation of lifesaving medical intervention, and constant bombardment and targeting by weaponized drones," they wrote. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres "has warned of the ethnic cleansing of Gaza by Israel while the U.N. Commission of Inquiry has concluded that the Israeli authorities have committed the crime against humanity of extermination of part of the civilian population in Gaza through direct and indirect means."
"These assessments raise the specter of genocide and support the findings of other experts who have long concluded that genocide is taking place," the coalition continued. "This makes it imperative for the foreign secretary to revisit his comments and to clarify the government's understanding of the crime of genocide."
Amichai Stein, a correspondent for state-owned Israeli broadcaster Kan, said on social media Tuesday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced "the division of the northern Gaza Strip into two parts has been completed, and we getting closer to the complete evacuation of the northern part from civilians and terrorists: 'This time there is no intention to allow the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return to their homes and that humanitarian aid will regularly enter the southern Gaza Strip.'"
In other words, as Drop Site News' Ryan Grim put it, "Israeli media reporting that the IDF is declaring northern Gaza effectively ethnically cleansed, not even a hint of pretense now that it's Election Day" in the United States.
While the U.S. has repeatedly faced global condemnation for arming Israel over the past year, the rights coalition on Tuesday focused on the U.K. government, emphasizing that "to the extent that the ICJ has already ordered provisional measures, the U.K. is on notice that a plausible risk of genocide exists, triggering third-state responsibility."
Signatories to the letter include ActionAid U.K., Christain Aid, Council for Arab-British Understanding, Democracy for the Arab World Now, Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS), Global Justice Now, Jewish Network for Palestine, Medical Aid for Palestinians, Quakers in Britain, and War on Want.
GAPS director Eva Tabbasam toldMiddle East Eye that the language used to describe the war in Gaza "is essential to recognize the suffering of Palestinians and consider all possible actions the U.K. has to contribute to stopping what is a plausible risk of genocide."
"If Labour is indeed the party of international law, Foreign Secretary David Lammy must align with, rather than undermine, the courts," Tabbasam said. "He should have already done so months ago when the court first published this language, but the second best time is right now."
Separately, War on Want on Tuesday published an analysis detailing how "Israel is committing genocide of the Palestinian people" and arguing that "the U.K. government is failing to uphold international law, and is complicit in Israel's crimes, as it continues to export weapons and technology used by Israel against the Palestinian people."
"Palestinians have long struggled for their rights and for justice. During the 1947-8 ethnic cleansing of historic Palestine—the Nakba (Arabic for 'catastrophe')—around 750,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes and lands by armed groups, to live under Israel's system of apartheid," the group noted. "Israel has carried out its ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, unlawful occupation, apartheid, and blockade of Gaza—the ongoing Nakba—with impunity and has now escalated its actions into genocide."
The London-based organization is also circulating a petition in response to the foreign secretary's remarks from last week, which says in part: "David Lammy is misleading parliament and the U.K. public. He must tell the truth—that this is genocide—and immediately take action to stop the genocide, and the U.K.'s complicity."
Other responses to Lammy's comments have included public criticism from What Is Genocide? author Martin Shaw and dozens of public figures in the Arab British community demanding an apology.
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Global Health Advocates Call for Massive Mpox Vaccination Effort
"Every necessary step must be taken to get mpox vaccines to the adults and children who need them now," said an epidemiological coordinator for Doctors Without Borders.
Aug 16, 2024
The international medical charity Doctors Without Borders on Friday appealed to wealthy countries that have stockpiles of mpox vaccines to immediately donate doses to several countries in Africa that have been affected by recent outbreaks, as global officials warned the spread of the disease is now a public health emergency of international concern.
The group, also known by its French name, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), expressed support for the World Health Organization's (WHO) call for donor countries to help fund a coordinated response to the outbreak, including surveillance, building laboratory capacity, increasing community engagement, and guaranteeing access to treatments, vaccines, and testing.
The current outbreak has been reported mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the number of mpox cases this year has surpassed 15,600. More than 530 people have died of the disease this year.
Mpox has been reported in DRC for more than a decade, but with far fewer annual case numbers. More than 100 cases have also been confirmed in the past month in four neighboring countries which have not reported cases of the disease before: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Dr. Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimated this week that at least 10 million doses of mpox vaccines will be needed to respond to the growing outbreak.
"We need to have vaccines," Kaseya told NPR. "Today, we are just talking about almost 200,000 doses [becoming] available. We need at least 10 million doses. The vaccine is so expensive—we can put it around $100 per dose. There are not so many countries in Africa that can afford the cost of this vaccine."
Without improved access to vaccines, said Justin Eyong, an intersectional epidemiological coordinator for MSF in DRC, "thousands of people—including children under 15 years old who are particularly affected by mpox (representing 56% and 79% of all cases and deaths from mpox in 2024, respectively)—may be left unprotected."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency have both approved the MVA-BN vaccine for mpox, which can cause a rash that can be painful and initially look like blisters, as well as fever, chills, and other symptoms.
"Mpox, originating in Africa, was neglected there, and later caused a global outbreak in 2022. It is time to act decisively to prevent history from repeating itself."
With the current price of the MVA-BN vaccine placing it out of reach for most low- and middle-income countries where mpox is endemic or is now spreading, MSF called on its manufacturer, Bavarian Nordic, to partner with African companies "for a full and timely tech transfer" that would allow a vaccine to be produced in Africa.
"With the mpox outbreak in DRC continuing to evolve rapidly, the situation is urgent," Eyong said. "Every necessary step must be taken to get mpox vaccines to the adults and children who need them now."
The current outbreak of mpox is being driven by one of the two genetic clades, or groupings, that characterize the disease. Clade II was behind an outbreak that was declared a global health emergency from 2022-23, but the current spread of the virus is being driven by clade I, which causes more severe disease.
Dimie Ogoina, chair of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee said Wednesday that the upsurge in cases is "an emergency, not only for Africa, but for the entire globe."
"Mpox, originating in Africa, was neglected there, and later caused a global outbreak in 2022," said Ogoina. "It is time to act decisively to prevent history from repeating itself."
Ogoina's comments were echoed by Ayoade Alakija, chair of the Africa Vaccine Delivery Alliance, who told The Guardian that if European countries were experiencing the current outbreak instead of African nations, "mpox would have already been considered a major international health emergency."
The declaration of an emergency "of international concern," said Alakija, "should focus minds and loosen purse strings so that the response recovers from a sluggish start."
Instead of confronting the threat of a potential new outbreak, said Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden, "the British government has spent more time actually stopping a pandemic treaty being agreed because it threatens Big Pharma power."
Policymakers in wealthy countries including the U.K. and the U.S. have objected to provisions in a pandemic treaty proposed by WHO, such as those that call for countries to donate vaccine doses to low-income countries or waive intellectual property laws for vaccines and treatments during a pandemic.
Such objections are "bad for all of us," said Dearden. "If we'd dealt with this internationally years ago, we could have prevented this dangerous new strain."
MSF called on WHO to accelerate its Emergency Use Listing (EUL) Procedure for two mpox vaccines that have been approved internationally, which would encourage manufacturers to increase production and allow agencies including the United Nations Children's Fund to distribute the vaccines.
The stockpiling of vaccines by "rich countries that do not need them," said economist Jayati Ghosh, "is exactly what the world does not need to confront this latest health threat."
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