Is Brexit really going to cost £2 billion a week?

“Brexit to cost £2,000 million a week, says government’s own report.”

• 21 Feb 2018
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That’s the claim plastered across a new pro-Remain campaign bus as it begins its 33-stop tour of the UK today.

It follows in the tyre tracks of another political wagon, which toured the streets of Britain in the run-up to the EU referendum in June 2016. But there, the similarity ends.

FactCheck tells the tale of two buses. Buckle up.

Background

Before the EU referendum, the Vote Leave campaign famously made the following claim: “We send the EU £350 million a week. Let’s fund our NHS instead.”

FactCheck and others quickly shot this down. The Eurosceptics were counting Britain’s gross contribution to the EU budget, but ignoring the fact that we got a substantial amount of the upfront fee back in the form of a rebate, as well as other smaller sums.

The head of the UK Statistics Authority said Vote Leave’s continued use of the £350 million was “misleading and undermines trust in official statistics.”

What’s the new bus all about?

Now a group called Brexit: is it worth it? have jumped on the bus bandwagon. The design of the bus echoes the Vote Leave campaign bus which generated publicity for Boris Johnson and the others.

The group describes itself as a “grassroots campaign to tell the truth about the costs of leaving the EU.”

The campaign was initiated by a group of people based in North London who “support Britain’s continued membership of the European Union”. This group is affiliated with the Britain For Europe organisation, which believes “continued UK membership of the EU is necessary.”

The bus campaign has been crowdfunded by “ordinary people from around the UK”, raising a total of £16,253 from 661 supporters. That works out at quite a large average donation of just under £25 per person.

We can’t verify the identity of donors with complete certainty, but a couple of the names sound familiar. They appear to include a high-profile member of the House of Lords, a famous historian and a bestselling writer, among others.

The campaigners say it is “focused on voters who supported leave in the referendum but are now having second thoughts or beginning to change their minds about Brexit.” They are travelling across the UK, taking in places like Dover, Glasgow and Birmingham.

The original crowdfunding page says the bus “will certainly stop outside Parliament, the BBC and the London homes of some of the extreme Brexiteers in the Cabinet.”

Why do they think Brexit will cost £2,000 million a week?

The bus makes it clear that the campaigners are relying on Government figures to back up their claim.

They told FactCheck they are getting the numbers from a leaked government report, some of which has been reported in the media, which tried to predict what would happen to the UK economy in a number of different Brexit scenarios.

A spokesperson for the campaign explained how they reached that number:

UK GDP is currently worth about £2 trillion.

Without Brexit, we could have expected GDP to reach £2.7 trillion by 2032 – a 35 per cent increase.
If Brexit goes ahead, we leave the single market and strike a trade deal, we can expect GDP to rise by just 30 per cent by 2032. That means GDP would be worth £2.6 trillion in today’s prices.

So that’s a difference of £100 billion a year from 2032, or around £2 billion a week (they write it as £2,000 million instead of £2 billion on the bus).

Is this misleading too?

There are a few issues here, which we think you might miss if the bus drove past you in the street.
The £2 billion a week figure is not directly comparable to the £350 million figure claimed by Vote Leave. That number – spurious though it was – represented actual money being spent by the UK taxpayer. Today’s figure is about the size of the economy. It doesn’t equate to money that a government would be able to spend on the NHS or anything else.

To be clear – we are not talking about the economy shrinking as a result of Brexit. We are comparing two scenarios in which GDP continues to go up. It’s just that we can expect it to grow more slowly if we leave the single market.

From what has been leaked so far from the government report, there is no mention of this £2 billion a week figure. The campaigners have had to do quite a few back-of-envelope calculations to arrive at this number, and it’s not clear that the government economists who did the original work would endorse it.

It’s also not clear what the government’s own analysis was assuming as part of the Brexit scenarios. For example, did they expect a deal on free movement of people? Or special arrangements for the UK financial services sector? There are so many variables here that even the government can’t fully anticipate – any one of which could shift the total cost of leaving the EU.

The £2 billion a week figure is not a cost we are paying now: it’s an estimate of how big a potential shortfall might be in 15 years’ time.

There are estimates of how much Brexit has already cost us – but they are much lower than this long-term figure. Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, has said that the UK has forfeited £200 million a week in lost revenue in the two years since the Brexit vote.

Despite those caveats, it’s worth saying that before the referendum, the Treasury and several other independent economists published similar predictions, all based on the idea that leaving the EU would damage growth. The leaked government report revises the numbers slightly, but still concludes that in every Brexit scenario, growth will suffer in every region of the UK.

Of course, there is ultimately no way of FactChecking predictions like this, but we know that the government are not alone in making these forecasts.

21st February 1952: A prelude to the creation of Bangladesh

The course of our movements explores the history, sociology, and politics of Bangladesh’s struggles for freedom and social justice. The organising class puts more emphasis on how to aspects of fighting for social change.

by Anwar A. Khan-Feb 21, 2018

( February 21, 2018, Dhaka, Sri Lanka Guardian) The 20th century is a remarkable story of progressive accomplishments against overwhelming odds everywhere in the world including Bangladesh. The events of 21st February 1952 in Dhaka, and elsewhere in the country, provided a basis for an understanding of the direction our struggles against the Pakistani colonial rule. The intense emotion and mobilisation that accompanied the brutal murders of revered Salam, Barkat, Jabbar and some other mortals opened another significant chapter in resistance politics against the Pakistani tyrannous rule. For most of the students, joining the fermentation to fight against an unjust political system became the ultimate goal for our people then.

21st February 1952 A prelude to the creation of Bangladesh.docx by Thavam on Scribd

How common is sexual misconduct in Hollywood?

A USA TODAY SURVEY OF 843 WOMEN IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUND 94% SAY THEY'VE EXPERIENCED HARASSMENT OR ASSAULT.

 

Maria Puente and Cara Kelly, USA TODAY

The first number you see is 94% — and your eyes pop with incredulity.

But it's true: Almost every one of hundreds of women questioned in an exclusive survey by USA TODAY say they have experienced some form of sexual harassment or assault during their careers in Hollywood.

For months now we've all been hearing the horrifying stories of abuse from marquee names like Rose McGowan and Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Judd and Salma Hayek, about what powerful men in Hollywood, like movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, allegedly did to them and other women over decades.  

94% of the 843 women surveyed by USA TODAY who work in the entertainment industry say they've experienced some form of sexual harassment or assault.

Unwanted sexual comments and groping. Propositioning women. Exposing themselves. Coercing women into having sex or doing something sexual. And, especially pertinent to showbiz, forcing women to disrobe and appear naked at an audition without prior warning.

It's been deeply disturbing reading, but so far the powerful stories of accusers outnumber plain, hard facts about the extent of the problem in Tinseltown. Until now.

Working in partnership with The Creative Coalition, Women in Film and Television and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, USA TODAY surveyed 843 women who work in the entertainment industry in a variety of roles (producers, actors, writers, directors, editors and others) and asked them about their experiences with sexual misconduct. 

The results are sobering: Nearly all of the women who responded to the survey (94%) say they have experienced some form of harassment or assault, often by an older individual in a position of power over the accuser. 

Worse, more than one-fifth of respondents (21%) say they have been forced to do something sexual at least once.

Only one in four women reported these experiences to anyone because of fear of personal or professional backlash or retaliation. This reporting rate holds true for all forms of misconduct addressed in the survey, including being forced to do something sexual. 

Of those who did report their experiences, most say reporting did not help them; only 28% say their workplace situation improved after reporting. 

One surprising finding: Even though America has been arguing about workplace sexual harassment ever since the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas Supreme Court hearings in 1991, more than one-third of women surveyed weren't even sure that what happened to them was sexual harassment. 

Still, even though the survey shows that older and more experienced women have been subjected to more incidents of sexual misconduct, younger women with less than five years of experience in the industry are more likely to blow a whistle on misconduct. 

And that suggests there's a chance the status quo — misconduct allowed to flourish because few complain and no one in authority does anything about it — might change in the future as younger women increasingly enter the entertainment workforce and begin asserting influence. 

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center, which maintains a large library of related surveys on the subject of workplace sexual harassment, says USA TODAY's survey is a first for its focus on Hollywood and for its comprehensiveness.

As with most surveys, there are limitations that could affect interpretations. It was conducted online between Dec. 4, 2017, and Jan. 14 after emails were sent to members of The Creative Coalition and Women in Film and Television inviting them to participate. As a self-selected sample of respondents, it is not scientifically representative of the entire industry, let alone the broader national population of women working in all industries.

“It happens so frequently that it's just the functioning normal.”

CAMERA OPERATOR, EARLY 40S

Thus, says Anita Raj, director of the Center for Gender Equity and Health at the University of California, San Diego's medical school, the survey should be treated with some caution. But she believes that the results overall are "credible and important" and that people should pay attention.

"The percentages (in USA TODAY's survey) are higher than what we typically see for workplace abuses, but we know there is variation by the type of workplace," Raj says. "But it makes sense to me that we would see higher numbers (in the entertainment industry)," where the "casting couch" has prevailed for decades and is considered "normal."

Women may not always know the line between the demands of showbiz and what constitutes sexual harassment, she says. In fact, Raj says, kissing someone without their consent is actually a crime in California, which, she notes, once happened on live TV in front of millions: when Adrien Brody, who won the best-actor Oscar in 2003, grabbed presenter Halle Berry and dip-kissed her at the podium before his acceptance speech. She was not happy, she acknowledged years later, but everyone else just laughed.

"Yes, I'd like to see more solidity in the scientific aspects of how the data was collected. But 94% does not seem shocking. It says this is ubiquitous in Hollywood," Raj says. "There is a lack of clarity on what constitutes professional interactions in this (Hollywood) context. So it wouldn’t surprise me if in fact it were 94%."

What kind of misconduct is happening?

About this project

In October 2017, women courageously began speaking out about sexual misconduct by men in Hollywood. To continue this movement in 2018 and beyond, USA TODAY is taking an in-depth look at the issue of sexual harassment and assault in the entertainment industry. The results of this exclusive survey kick off the project.

Next week:

In a second installment, we'll bring a human face to the startling statistics revealed in our survey, with the tales of women who are struggling to unpack emotional baggage and deal with sorrow over derailed careers following sexual harassment. We'll also hear about the impact of micro-aggressions, commonplace behaviors which can be just as, if not more, damaging than other forms of harassment or assault.

In March:

In a third installment, we examine how to fix a broken system. Mounting allegations in Hollywood have forced the top unions, trade groups and studios to re-examine their policies surrounding sexual harassment and assault. We catalog the actions taken by top institutions - including the Academy, Screen Actors Guild, and the big six movie studios - and assess what else needs to happen to effect change. Plus, we catalog what our survey respondents say they think needs to happen to create a safe working environment for women in Hollywood.

What kind of misconduct is happening?

Most often, it's someone making unwelcome sexual comments, jokes or gestures: 87% of respondents say this has happened to them at least once. Also, 69% say they've been groped (slapped, pinched or brushed in a sexual way) at least once, and 64% say they have been propositioned for sex or a relationship at least once.

"It happens so frequently that it's just the functioning normal," says a camera operator in her early 40s. "For me, this includes everything from misogynistic or sexual comments made over a headset while working, to blatant grabbing to comments about my body. I've spent the last 20 years accepting it as the price of doing business in a 'man's job.' "

Far fewer respondents say they've been shown sexual pictures without consent (39%) or have been on the receiving end of someone exposing themselves (29%).

What can happen in a Hollywood audition?

A small but still significant number (10%) of the women in the survey say they have been forced to appear naked — unexpectedly — during auditions or in the course of their professional work at least once.

“In my career, I have been touched inappropriately, given awful nicknames, questioned about my sex life, teased, and even stalked...but for the most part, I just looked at these things as part of the landscape.”

DIRECTOR, 30-34

Jennifer Lawrence has described how, when she was just starting out, a female producer insisted she do a nude lineup with other nude women during an audition to shame her into losing weight.

And Melissa Gilbert has said she once ran out of an audition in tears because a director intentionally tried to humiliate and degrade her by making her do a "dirty" sex scene.  

"There are also little ways women get manipulated into showing more of their bodies on camera," says a female actor in her early 40s. "Like, I had a friend who was on an HBO show and the producers called her the night before she's supposed to start shooting and tell her that if she didn't do full frontal nudity (which they didn't state that they expected at her audition), they would demote the role from a recurring to a one-time guest star." 

Where does misconduct happen?

Almost every one of hundreds of women questioned in an exclusive survey by USA TODAY say they have experienced some form of sexual harassment or assault during their careers in Hollywood

(Photo: Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Network)

More than one-third (35%) of respondents say they have been asked to hold work activities or meetings in inappropriate environments such as hotel rooms or bedrooms. Recall that many of Weinstein's accusers asserted that sexual misconduct took place after he lured them to hotel rooms on the pretext of a business meeting. 

"My boss took me to dinner to apologize for being incredibly insulting," says a producer in her early 60s. "After dinner he told me to come back to the studio but instead took me to his apartment (that was behind the studio). He then asked me to give him (oral sex). I refused. To which he said, 'Why do you think I took you to dinner?' " 

How many women are expected to trade sex for advancement?

One-fifth (20%) of respondents say they have been put in a quid pro quo position: provide sexual acts with the implicit or explicit promise of promotions or other forms of career advancement. Also, 65% of respondents say they witnessed others advance professionally as a result of sexual relationships with employers or managers.

“After a job interview over lunch, my potential new boss walked me to my car and put his arm around my waist and pulled me very close to him," says a writer in her late 40s. "I pushed him away and said I'm not interested in this (job). I came home and cried. I really thought I was being interviewed for a partnership role with equity." 

Many of Hollywood's women, including Mariah Carey, America Ferrera, Natalie Portman, Emma Stone and Billie Jean King, wore black to the 75th Golden Globe Awards as a show of solidarity with the Time's Up movement.

(Photo: Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY)

Are women more likely to encounter harassment with age and experience?

More women older than 40 say they were asked to hold meetings in hotel rooms (41% of age 40 to 49) than women younger than 30 (31%). 

Similarly, those with more than 20 years experience were more likely to say they were put in a sex-for-advancement position (28%) than women with less than five years in the industry (11%). 

How do age and experience influence whether misconduct is reported?

Women younger than 30 were more likely to report (35%) than those older than 60 (19%). Women with less than five years experience were more likely to report (32%) than those with more than 20 years (24%). 

Why don't women report misconduct?

Most sexual misconduct goes unreported largely out of fear. But 40% of respondents say they did not trust the system. More than one-third — 34% — weren't even sure what happened to them amounted to sexual harassment, and 32% say they had no evidence so it was their word against the accused. 

And 20% say they felt shame.

"On countless occasions, I have been in a position at events with clients, where either the client or a member of the client's team has made sexually explicit comments, sexual advances and/or touched my body without consent," says a publicist in her early 40s. "These assailants seem confident enough to know they can become predators without repercussion."

Often, she says, there are no human resources departments working with producers or directors to take a complaint. As a contract worker, her only "professional exit" option in these situations is to wait out the end of her contract without renewal.

"Being in a line of work that obtains clients through word-of-mouth makes me reluctant to speak (about) these sexual harassment/assault experiences for fear of losing clients or collaborations with other firms/companies," she says. 

What happened after misconduct was reported?

Of those few who reported misconduct, the result was most often a warning or reprimand (32%) or removal of the harasser (23%). A fraction (8%) of respondents say they were fired after reporting and 4% say there was a settlement in their case. And zero cases were prosecuted.   

Also, a quarter of the respondents (24%) say they left their companies specifically because of sexual misconduct incidents.

"There was one specific instance where I reported a horrible incident of harassment to superiors and the male boss of the man who harassed me told me that 'he wouldn't do such a thing' and stopped replying to my emails," says a director in her early 30s. "Women superiors, though more sympathetic, implied nothing more could be done. I simply couldn't keep working in an environment that would be both physically and mentally unsafe for me." 

Who are the assailants?

They're male, older and for the most part more powerful than their accusers. About one-third (29%) were directors, agents, producers or someone else in an authority position as the industry defines it.

 About one-quarter (24%) were peers or co-workers, and one-fifth (20%) were supervisors or senior managers. Less than 10% were influential individuals in the industry, such as celebrities, and few were in a lower position than the accuser (3%).  

Philippines govt under fire for delay in Marawi ground zero rehabilitation

Community leaders survey damaged houses and buildings inside war-torn Marawi, Philippines January 13, 2018. Picture taken January 13, 2018. Source: Reuters/Tom Allard

By Bong S. Sarmiento | 21st February 2018

FRUSTRATION is mounting among internally displaced persons (IDPs) as the national government has yet to start the rehabilitation of ground zero in war-torn Marawi City, southern Philippines, some four months after it was liberated from the clutches of Islamic State-inspired militants.

Abdul Hamidullah Atar the Sultan of Marawi expressed dismay over the failure of the government to start the rehabilitation of the main battle zone that remained restricted to civilians.

He also criticised President Rodrigo Duterte for apparently giving priority to the construction of a second military camp in the devastated Islamic city than the rehabilitation of ground zero.

SEE ALSO: How Marawi pushed Asean nations to join forces against terrorism

During his last visit to Marawi, Duterte disclosed plans to develop a second military camp there which will cost PHP400 million (US$7.7 million). It is slated for completion within two years.

“The government is prolonging the agony of the victims hardest hit by the war by not allowing them to enter and not immediately rehabilitating the main affected area,” Atar told Asian Correspondent.

The traditional Muslim leader rejected the construction of a second military camp, describing it as a “misplaced priority.” He suggested to the government to just strengthen or improve the facilities of the existing military camp.

Atar warned that Islamic militants might exploit the delayed rehabilitation work at ground zero to lure fresh recruits among the IDPs. He noted the Islamic militants could play up or portray the government as “neglectful in addressing the needs of the war victims” for delaying rebuilding of Marawi.

Muslim young boys pray during noon prayers for the Marawi siege and the plight of Rohingyas in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, on Sept 29, 2017. Source: Reuters/Dondi Tawatao

For his part, civic leader Drieza Lininding, chairperson of the Marawi-based Moro Consensus Group, lamented the government’s failure to present the rehabilitation plan for the consent of the war victims.

“Many Meranaws are growing impatient over the government’s slow or lack of plan on how to move forward with Marawi or inform us if there’s any (rehabilitation) plan,” he said in a statement.

Both Atar and Lininding cautioned the government to seriously consider the cultural sensitivities of the local Muslim population in the reconstruction work to avoid negative complications that Islamic militants could exploit to their advantage.

SEE ALSO: Jakarta offers Philippines Islamic education as antidote to extremism

Retired military general Eduardo del Rosario, the government’s housing czar and head of Task Force Bangon (Rise) Marawi, recently told reporters that rehabilitation of Marawi’s ground zero was expected to begin this April.

The main battle area covered 250ha, straddling 24 villages with an estimated population of 11,000 families, he said. At least US$1.1 billion is needed to rebuild Marawi from the ashes of the five-month battle.

“Ground zero remains restricted to civilians because of the ongoing clearing operations by the military for unexploded ammunition and ordnances. After the military finishes the clearing operations, we will then start rehabilitating the 250 hectares,” he said.

Del Rosario noted an estimated three million tonnes of debris were left by the war, which could prolong the rehabilitation works. The government has projected the rehabilitation of Marawi will be completed in December 2021, a few months before the Duterte administration steps down from power.

A evacuee gets drinking water from a tap outside an evacuation centre, as government troops continue their operations against pro-IS militants which seized Marawi city, in Baloi village, Lanao Del Norte, southern Philippines, on Sept 7, 2017. Source: Reuters/Romeo Ranoco

Of the initial target of 1,100 transitional shelters as part of Marawi’s early recovery programme, 551 units have been completed as of late January, said del Rosario.

He noted the government plans to construct a total of 6,000 temporary housing units and another 3,000 permanent housing units that will be awarded to those whose houses were totally destroyed by the fighting.

The siege in Marawi that began on May 23 displaced over 350,000 individuals, many of whom continue to languish in evacuation centers or are staying with their relatives in neighboring areas.

SEE ALSO: Warring Muslim clans call a truce in the Philippines, surrender arms to military

Some 1,110 individuals, mostly Islamic militants belonging to the combined Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups, were killed in the battle, which the government terminated in October.

The urban warfare tested the mettle of Filipino troops who for decades have been used to jungle fighting with various rebel groups in the country.

Owing to the Marawi siege, Duterte placed the entire Mindanao under martial law that remains effective until the end of 2018.

'Dirty meat': Shocking hygiene failings discovered in US pig and chicken plants

Previously unseen government records detail ‘deeply worrying’ incidents in pork and poultry plants, raising fears of ‘dirty meat’ entering the UK under a post-Brexit trade deal
All of the reported breaches resulted in immediate remedial action with no risk posed to consumers, according to the companies involved. Photograph: FLPA/John Eveson/Rex

Andrew Wasley Wed 21 Feb 2018 12.16 GMT

Shocking hygiene failings have been discovered in some of the US’s biggest meat plants, as a new analysis reveals that as many as 15% (one in seven) of the US population suffers from foodborne illnesses annually.

A joint investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and the Guardian found that hygiene incidents are at numbers that experts described as “deeply worrying”.

US campaigners are calling once again for the closure of a legal loophole that allows meat with salmonella to be sold in the human supply chain, and also warn about the industry’s push to speed up production in the country’s meat plants. And UK campaigners warn that the UK could be flooded with “dirty meat” if a US trade deal is signed post-Brexit.

The unpublished US- government records highlight numerous specific incidents including:

• Diseased poultry meat that had been condemned found in containers used to hold edible food products;
• Pig carcasses piling up on the factory floor after an equipment breakdown, leading to contamination with grease, blood and other filth;
• Meat destined for the human food chain found riddled with faecal matter and abscesses filled with pus;
• High-power hoses being used to clean dirty floors next to working production lines containing food products;
• Factory floors flooded with dirty water after drains became blocked by meat parts and other debris;
• Dirty chicken, soiled with faeces or having been dropped on the floor, being put back on to the production line after being rinsed with dilute chlorine.

All of the reported breaches resulted in immediate remedial action with no risk posed to consumers, according to the companies involved.

But campaigners warned that other violations may go undetected. Tony Corbo, senior lobbyist with Food and Water Watch, said: “While the inspectors are able to cite the plants for hundreds of violations per week, I am confident that they are not catching every instance of unsafe practices being committed in these plants.”

Meat hygiene inspectors interviewed by the Guardian agreed, saying fast line speeds and other pressures in some plants meant it was “inevitable” that some breaches slipped through the net.

The findings are worrying, according to Prof Erik Millstone, a food safety expert at Sussex University, “because of the risks of spreading infectious pathogens from carcass to carcass, and between portions of meat. The rates at which outbreaks of infectious food poisoning occur in the US are significantly higher than in the UK, or the EU, and poor hygiene in the meat supply chain is [a] leading cause of food poisoning in the US.”

Black bacterial colonies of salmonella. Food poisoning outbreaks are much higher than in the UK. Photograph: Chansom Pantip/Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Bureau and the Guardian obtained previously unpublished documents relating to 47 meat plants across the US. Some of the documents relate to certain companies, including Pilgrim’s Pride, one of the US’s biggest poultry producers, and Swift Pork. Although not a comprehensive portrait of the sector - there are around 6,000 US plants regularly inspected by Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) - the documents provide a snapshot of issues rarely detailed in public which has rung alarm bells with campaigners in both the US and UK.

“The US meat industry has a responsibility to clean up its act,” said David Wallinga, senior health officer at the Natural Resources Defence Council, which obtained some of the documents. He said the Pilgrim’s Pride records detailed “numerous food safety violations.”

Kerry McCarthy, former UK shadow environment minister and Labour MP, called for urgent reassurances from both the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) and “the top of government” that standards would not be allowed to slip as trade negotiations with the US get underway.

“We cannot allow this to be a race to the bottom. We should insist the US raises its standards, and guarantees food safety, before we are prepared to allow in US meat imports,” she said. McCarthy has written to the environment secretary, Michael Gove, and Liam Fox, the trade secretary, to raise the matter.

The documents seen by the Bureau and Guardian do not reveal the full numbers of non-compliance reports across the whole sector. However, one dataset covering 13 large red meat and poultry plants over two years (2015-17) shows an average of more than 150 violations a week, and 15,000 violations over the entire period. Thousands of similar violations were recorded at 10 pork-producing plants over a five-year period up until 2016, further documents show.

Another batch of previously unpublished documents shows frequent failings at 24 plants operated by Pilgrim’s Pride who recently bought the British chicken giant Moy Park. The company slaughters 34 million birds each week and produces one in five of the chickens in the country.

More than 16,000 non-compliance reports on Pilgrim’s Pride operations detail 36,612 individual regulatory violations - an average of 1,464 a month - at the 24 plants during a 25-month period between 2014 and 2016.

Pilgrim’s Pride chickens on display at a supermarket. Photograph: Kristoffer Tripplaar / Alamy/Alamy

In one incident, diseased meat – condemned from entering the human food chain – was placed in a container meant for edible product. An inspector discovered “carcasses of poultry showing evidence of septicemic disease ... carcasses showing evidence of having died from other causes than slaughter ... guts of carcasses, [and] poultry carcasses with heads attached.” He requested that the condemned items be removed. A similar incident was recorded some days later.

One inspector saw chicken drumsticks piling up on the floor, and instructed workers to pick them up “to be reconditioned with chlorinated water.” Again, a similar incident had occurred previously. In another incident in a bagging department, 36 shrink-wrapped whole birds were found scattered on the floor. An inspector noted: “in my presence the establishments began initiating their corrective action by picking up all affected product off the floor ... to be carried to the establishment’s designated wash station to be thoroughly rinsed off.”

Meat soiled with faecal matter was also recorded, with an inspector noting “... I observed a poultry intestine in the liver bin. The intestine was approximately 6.5 inches long and had visible faeces oozing out both ends.” The incident resulted in the livers being condemned from the human food chain.

At another Pilgrim’s Pride plant, the records reveal how deficient equipment led to a carcass becoming contaminated with faeces. “I observed one of my 10 test birds with a spot of faecal matter on the exterior of the right thigh. The spot of faecal [sic] was … brownish green in colour and had a pasty consistency,” an inspector notes. The affected bird was “retained by management for review then sent to reprocessing for reconditioning with chlorinated water.” Similar carcass contamination had been recorded before.

Internal FSIS records also highlight numerous violations at meat plants producing pork. In an incident recorded at a plant run by Swift Pork, owned by meat giant JBS, 48 pig carcasses were found to have fallen on the floor because of defective equipment, leading to contamination with “black trolley grease, floor grime and bloody smears”. The records noted: “The line was stopped for about 15 minutes. The carcasses were sent to be trimmed first then steam vacuumed with 180F water.”
On another occasion, an employee cleaned the factory floor with meat products on an adjacent conveyor belt, creating a mist that could contaminate the meat. “This mist is contaminated by the inedible debris and ... comes into contact with edible product,” an inspector observed.

Pigs are seen in a factory farm December 2003 in northern Missouri. Photograph: Daniel Pepper/Getty Images

In a separate incident, a pig’s head was found to have partially covered a drain, leading to “bloody waste water filling the area”. This and another blockage caused by a buildup of skin led to dirty water flooding other areas. “Because of the plugged drains, an insanitary condition was created; the bloody water in the walkway could be splashed and carried throughout the kill floor after employees walked through the puddle,” an inspector wrote.

In a different part of the factory, inspectors found a stainless steel handwash sink “plugged and approximately one-quarter full of standing bloody water with pieces of fat and meat. Production employees use this sink to clean and sanitise their hands and gloves. This creates an insanitary condition.”

In a statement, JBS, which owns Pilgrim’s and Swift Pork, said all of the violations recorded were “immediately addressed” and that consumers were never put at risk. “The US meat and poultry sector is one of the most highly regulated industries in America,” said Al Almanza, JBS’s global head of food safety and quality assurance, and former head of FSIS for 39 years. “Non-compliance reports are issued by USDA [United States Department of Agriculture] inspection personnel to document when an establishment has not met a specific regulatory requirement. However, the vast majority of non-compliance issues are addressed immediately and have no impact on food safety.”

“All of the documented incidents regarding JBS [Swift Pork] and Pilgrim’s were immediately addressed by our facilities. None of these incidents put anyone at risk or resulted in any adulterated product released into commerce. Food safety is achieved by implementing processes that consistently detect and correct issues before products are released into commerce. Our team at JBS and Pilgrim’s is committed to the highest food safety standards and we partner with USDA each and every day to ensure that consumers can enjoy safe and quality products with confidence.”

Salmonella and other foodborne illnesses

The US has shockingly high levels of foodborne illness, according to a new analysis by UK pressure group Sustain. It says that annually, around 14.7% (48 million people) of the US population is estimated to suffer from an illness, compared to around 1.5% (1 million) in the UK. In the US, 128,000 are hospitalised, and 3,000 die each year of foodborne diseases.

One bug, salmonella, causes around 1m illnesses per year in the US, while in the UK the numbers of officially recorded incidents is relatively low, with just under 10,000 laboratory confirmed cases in 2016. However, unreported incidents could substantially increase those numbers. Salmonella takes hold on farms and is found in the guts of poultry and livestock: farm animals and birds can become contaminated with faeces containing the bacteria during transport to abattoirs, where slaughter and processing procedures can also spread it.

Kath Dalmeny, chief executive of Sustain, said the figures underscored concerns about future US-UK trade deals: “The US has already warned us that we will need to lower our food standards in exchange for a quick trade deal, but we need to fight this hard. They are desperate to sell us their chlorine-washed chicken, but we know chlorine and other unpalatable treatments can mask dirty meat, low hygiene standards and poor animal welfare, which the UK consumer will not stand for.
“In recent years, the UK meat, dairy and egg industries have improved food safety; so we should all be alarmed about any trade deal that opens up our market to products that undermine this progress.

'The hospitals are overflowing with blood': Doctors struggle to cope in Eastern Ghouta

Nearly 300 people have been killed in attacks on besieged enclave that doctors say are targeting civilians and hospitals

A child receives treatment in an Eastern Ghouta hospital on Tuesday. The area has been under siege since 2013 (AFP)

Areeb Ullah-Wednesday 21 February 2018 14:45 UTC

Doctors in Eastern Ghouta are struggling to keep up with an influx of patients injured by the Syrian government offensive that they say is targeting civilians and hospitals.

Nearly 300 people have been killed and 1,400 wounded since the attacks on the only rebel-held area near Damascus started earlier this week. On Wednesday morning, 24 people died in government strikes, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In addition to air strikes and shelling, rescue workers and residents told MEE that the government has been dropping barrel bombs on residential neighbourhoods, accounts backed up by images posted on social media.

When the regime attacks a shelter, it becomes overwhelming because we are dealing with 15-20 people all at once

- Dr Malik

Amid the targeted strikes and already depleted medical supplies after a four-year siege, medics say the situation is becoming untenable.

"We don't have enough ambulances left to ferry the injured, meaning many people die before they reach us," Dr Malik told MEE. He and other doctors who spoke to MEE declined to give their last name out of concern for their safety.

"The hospitals have been overflowing with blood. We are doing what we can to help, but the situation is becoming unbearable."

According to Physicians for Human Rights, a medical NGO, there have been eight separate attacks on health facilities since Monday, adding that "blatant war crimes have become an everyday feature" in the war.

A man carries an injured boy as he walks on rubble of damaged buildings in the rebel-held besieged town of Hamouriyeh in Eastern Ghouta (Reuters)

Ten operations in one day

Dr Malik and other physicians say the attacks on facilities have only compounded an already impossible job.

"When the regime attacks a shelter, it becomes overwhelming because we are dealing with 15-20 people all at once," said Dr Malik.

"No matter if they are family or friends, as doctors, we have to continue our work to save as many lives as possible. Saving a single life is a massive achievement for us."

Dr Mohammed Salem, the coordinator of primary care in the Directorate of Health of Damascus and a local surgeon, said now that most of the equipment has been destroyed, conditions in the hospitals still open are very primitive.

We are underground. We don't have equipment or electricity

- Dr Mohammed Salem

"We are underground. We don't have equipment or electricity," he said.

Dr Rida, who is also treating patients in the area, told MEE that medical teams have been working at "full capacity".

"On Tuesday, I did 10 operations. One of the cases involved me having to amputate someone's leg," said Rida. 

"The main target from what we have seen are civilians. This bombardment is a tactic being used to silence the revolution." 

Residents head underground as Eastern Ghouta is pounded by government forces (Reuters)

'This madness has to stop'

Several UN agencies condemned the latest escalation in violence on Tuesday as the Syrian government continued to pummel the rebel enclave. 

Russia, which has propped up Assad's government since 2015, claimed rebels had wounded four people on Wednesday with mortar bombs, and six were killed on Tuesday.

"Today, residential areas, Damascus hotels, as well as Russia's Centre for Syrian Reconciliation, received massive bombardment by illegal armed groups from eastern Ghouta," said Russia's defence ministry on Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday described as "groundless" accusations that Russia bears some of the blame for civilian deaths in Eastern Ghouta.

About 400,000 people still live under siege in the enclave, including hundreds in urgent need of medical care outside the enclave.

Valerie Szybala, executive director of the Washington-based Syria Institute, said that this is the "first time" barrel bombs have been used to such a degree in Eastern Ghouta. 

Everyone is depleted both physically and militarily

- Valerie Szybala, Syria Institute

"One of the main reasons they haven't used barrel bombs much in Ghouta until now is because the rebels were able to take down helicopters," Szybala told MEE. 

"But now, thanks to the siege, everyone is depleted both physically and militarily."

Aid groups have said their assistance can no longer reach those in need due to the heavy bombardment and have warned of an unfolding catastrophe.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on Wednesday for humanitarian access to Ghouta, especially to reach wounded people in critical need of treatment.

"The fighting appears likely to cause much more suffering in the days and weeks ahead," said Marianne Gasser, ICRC's head of delegation in Syria. "This is madness and it has to stop."

An injured man at a medical point in the besieged town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta (Reuters)

'This is preliminary bombing'

A commander in forces fighting Assad's government told the Reuters news agency that the bombing aimed to prevent the rebels from targeting the eastern areas of Damascus with mortar bombs.

"The offensive has not started yet. This is preliminary bombing," the commander said.

Another commander, Suheil al-Hassan, told the Washington Post: "I promise, I will teach them a lesson, in combat and in fire.

"You won’t find a rescuer. And if you do, you will be rescued with water like boiling oil. You’ll be rescued with blood.”

Sri Lanka: Mass graves everywhere, but where are the killers? — Part 03

Burial, cremation, dumping in the sea, or feeding to animals are among methods that have been used for expediting disposal of dead bodies to cover up human rights abuses and war crimes.

Read Previous parts of this series: Part One and Part Two 

by Lionel Bopage - Feb 20, 2018

Conceptual framework

( February 20, 2018, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) According to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, a mass grave is a location where three or more such victims are buried, not having died in combat or armed confrontations (International Criminal Tribunal for The Former Yugoslavia, 1996).[1] This definition of a mass grave provides primacy to victims of a particular type, i.e., the manner in which those buried in graves had died. ^[2]. Another characteristic of a mass grave is the fact that the dead is placed in a disorganised manner reflecting the ‘lack of dignity given to their disposal’.[3]

Sri Lanka Mass graves everywhere, but where are the killers — Part 03.docx by Thavam on Scribd