Labour’s party conference has opened with British Trade Minister Douglas Alexander telling The National that “change is possible” to renew the country's standing in the world.
Mr Alexander, who had just returned from a trade mission to Saudi Arabia and Oman, said the conference in Liverpool is a “big opportunity for us to set out our agenda in government and to make the case that change is possible”.
He spoke after Foreign Secretary David Lammy had warned Israel against growing settler violence in the occupied West Bank, and said he was keeping sanctions against Israelis “under close review”.
Doomed Britain
While Prime Minister Keir Starmer has made significant changes both at home and in foreign policy, the conference opened against the backdrop of brewing ethics scandals and unease over the “doomed Britain” picture Labour has painted since coming into office.
Trying to strike a more upbeat line to his refrain that “things will get worse before they get better” and that next month’s budget will be “painful”, Mr Starmer vowed people will be “better off” under Labour.
“Changing the country is not like flicking a switch,” he said. “I’m not going to pretend that everything is fixed by Christmas.”
In a keynote speech at the Liverpool conference on Tuesday, Mr Starmer is expected to lay out his plans and set a new tone for Britain's foreign policy.
Settler sanctions considered
That has been most dramatically reflected in Britain’s changed stance towards Israel, with Labour imposing a partial arms ban, renewing funding to the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees and not opposing International Criminal Court proceedings against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr Lammy applied further pressure on Israel, saying he is “deeply, deeply worried by the growing violence and settler violence that we see in the West Bank”.
“I’m not announcing further sanctions today, but that is kept under close review,” he added.
He contended that Britain had “never lost sight of the end goal”, which was “an irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution”.
“It is only once Palestinians and Israelis have the same fundamental rights: sovereignty, security and dignity in their own independent, recognised states that we can achieve a just and lasting peace for all.”
But Mr Lammy signalled that Britain was unlikely to impose a full arms ban, pointing out that Israel needs some arms licences to fight the Houthis in Yemen and other Iran-backed groups in the region.
“I think that would be a mistake,” he said. “It would lead to a wider war and an escalation that we here in the UK are committed to stopping.”
Ethics issues
The conference is emerging as the first big political challenge for Labour, with supporters questioning some of its policies and growing unease over emerging reports of free gifts its leaders have received.
Mr Starmer has received more than £100,000 in free Arsenal football tickets, as well as clothes, while it was also reported on Sunday that Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner had been lent a New York flat for a holiday.
The prime minister has vowed not to take any more gifts, and the extent of the ethics scandals remains far from those faced by the previous Conservative government.
In the coming days, Mr Starmer will fight hard to keep his policies on track, knowing that hard choices will be needed to turn the country around.
Race card
1.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 50,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
2pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 84,000 (D) 1,400m
2.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 60,000 (D) 1,200m
3pm: Conditions (TB) Dh 100,000 (D) 1.950m
3.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 76,000 (D) 1,800m
4pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 60,000 (D) 1,600m
4.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 68,000 (D) 1,000m
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
Abramovich London
A Kensington Palace Gardens house with 15 bedrooms is valued at more than £150 million.
A three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront bought for £22 million.
Steel company Evraz drops more than 10 per cent in trading after UK officials said it was potentially supplying the Russian military.
Sale of Chelsea Football Club is now impossible.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Types of bank fraud
1) Phishing
Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
2) Smishing
The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
3) Vishing
The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
4) SIM swap
Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
5) Identity theft
Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
6) Prize scams
Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
