Build, Build, Build, Johnson has been told by his minder, Dominic Cummings, to put a positive spin on investment in infrastructure, before the public have a chance to realize the ominous implications that the major target for construction is in jails and morgues! As unemployment soars and the public brace for the avoidable harm of crash-out Brexit, the sickening expansion of anti-terrorism laws to encompass a crackdown on anticipated protests as civil unrest accelerates will be critical. Inevitably there must be space to warehouse the newly criminalized plus those targeted by immigration sweeps. The Nightingales were prepared for a temporary role in the conveyor belt of carnage but, by year end there will be an urgent need for increased morgue capacity to handle all the bodies resulting from the strategically engineered ‘Boris Spike’ as the next stage of the ‘Slaughter of the Sheeple’ gets under way. Strong evidence of this gruesome Tory Government strategy is writ large in Law, BBC touted warnings and the build already under way.
British jails are already overcrowded, but the arbitrary expansion of what qualifies as terrorist activity and lengthening of sentences aren’t the only demands on incarceration; the Tory manifesto pledged to target Gypsies and the Brexit clampdown will require more immigration detention centres. In the Independent Article challenging the warped misdirection of UK policing that has been steadily building since Blair’s illegal war and jingoistic ramp-up, they warn of, “The capture of more and more areas of social life by systems of ‘counter-extremist’ surveillance in Britain – from healthcare to education to social work – also indicate the urgent task at hand for those opposing policing and state violence: we need to be both moving towards the abolition of formal policing, and to resist the outsourcing of policing to other sectors. Understanding the context of policing and state violence in Britain cannot ignore the growth of so-called ‘counter-terrorism’ over the last 20 years, and abolitionist campaigning cannot fail to tackle this sector head-on.”
The Independent report on hopeful signs that, “In the US, organisers responding to the meek #8CantWait model which advocates for a ‘reform’ approach such as banning chokeholds (which are already banned in most places but continue to be used) and requiring a warning before shooting have created an ‘8 to Abolition’ framework, which is gaining ground not just in the US but here in the UK too. Within this 8 to Abolition framework, organisers in Minneapolis where George Floyd was murdered, have connected the dots from racist policing to racist countering violent extremism programmes impacting communities, including Minneapolis’ Black Muslim community. Under the 8 to Abolition framework, we can link the calls for the defunding of policing to defunding programmes like Prevent and the wider security apparatus which has eroded civil liberties and freedoms for years. In doing so, we can draw upon the work of organisations that have been organising against Prevent and the wider surveillance systems for years.”
The Independent point out that, “In the UK, we have seen the absolute withering of funds associated with youth work, the creative arts or bringing communities together, all replaced with Prevent or other ‘counter-extremist’ funding streams, such as the ‘Building a Stronger Britain Together’ fund. This has been made available for communities and organisations in the context of austerity, but comes with the strings of surveillance and monitoring attached for recipients, sowing distrust within communities.” They say it will entail, “a systematic rethink of how to rebuild society, and replace ingrained suspicion with solidarity. If we are to build a world within which state violence is eradicated, we need to take this battle head-on. The near-annual spectacle of new counter-terror legislation being introduced has done nothing but criminalise more and more communities – similar to the approach to immigration which saw successive pieces of legislation passing year on year creating an impossible maze to navigate…”
Another Independent Article entitled, “Government accused of ‘putting profit over human dignity’ with plan to build prisons and boost economy,” refers to a comment where they note Bell Ribeiro-Addy a, “Labour MP accuses government of ‘Americanising’ jail system amid drive to use infrastructure projects to bolster coronavirus recovery.” They note that, “A government pledge to build new prisons has been criticised as ‘putting profit over human dignity’ after the Ministry of Justice heralded the scheme as being designed to boost the nation’s economy. The MoJ announced four new sites would be built across England in the next six years amid a drive to fulfil a Conservative manifesto pledge to develop 10,000 new prison places.” They stress, “the department faced accusations of using state punishment as a means of boosting the nation’s financial wellbeing after announcing the measure was designed to ‘help local economies’, and ‘support the construction industry to invest and innovate’ in a post to Twitter.”
In the now standard pre-speech announcement of Boris Johnson’s ramping up of expansive infrastructure spending pledges with a newly created taskforce to fast-track new build of Schools, Hospitals and Prisons, claiming that this would combat the economic downturn caused by Covid 19, it is all too easy to recognize where the urgent need for lengthy incarceration will require expansion. The fate of two partially finished new Hospital remains in limbo two years on from the demise of the private contracting giant who abandoned the project exposing the fragility of Tory outsourcing that has continued at pace. A Guardian Article revealed back in January that, “Two hospitals held up by Carillion collapse are delayed further.” Scheduled to open in 2017 at an estimated cost of £746m the 646-bed Royal Liverpool is now expected to cost £1bn to build and run while the 669-bed Midland Metropolitan, due to open in late 2018 will run £300m over the original £688m budget with both facilities now not expected to be complete before 2022!
The Guardian emphasize that, “The delays and extra costs to the taxpayer have been seized upon by Labour and unions as the fault of Conservative ministers who were ‘asleep at the wheel’ when the outsourcing giant went into liquidation in January 2018. The hospitals were intended to be up-to-date medical facilities. They were funded by PFI, the controversial model where private firms are contracted to complete public projects and take debt off the government’s balance sheet.” The article cites, “significant construction problems” had caused delays even before work stopped, “while the hospital trusts, government and private investors attempted to rescue the projects.” Will these two over budget and chronically stalled new builds be boastfully re-spun as two of the PM’s pledged 40 new Hospitals? The Guardian say Carillion is “described as a story of ‘recklessness, hubris and greed’, and the sudden disappearance of its services disrupted more than 400 contracts across almost every area of government….”
Meanwhile the expansion of our prison system should alarm us all as there is no investment in our disillusioned youths. Backbench Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy is quoted in the Independent accusing the department of ‘Americanising’ the UK prison system. They elaborate further that this remark was, “a reference to the system of for-profit jails operated by private companies in the US under government contracts.” The depressing US facilities are run as profit making enterprises, thus creating an incentive for increased incarceration with zero regard for rehabilitation of offenders or protecting the public from the threat posed by dangerous criminals. The Guardian note Ribeiro-Addy’s awareness of this flaw, she wrote on Twitter, “These plans don’t focus on safety or rehabilitation. They prioritise profit over human dignity, in a justice system that perpetuates inequality.” We should all ask why such full throated criticism of Tory Government policy isn’t being voiced by Labour Leader, Keir Starmer or anyone in his shallow Shadow Cabinet?
The Independent report that, “The government’s pledge includes commitments to build two sites in the southeast of England and one in the northwest – with the ministry currently working to identify locations for each. The fourth site, to be built alongside HMP Full Sutton in Yorkshire, is the only one to have its location confirmed – and was first announced by Liz Truss during her time as justice secretary under Theresa May in 2017. The government is also yet to announce who will operate the prisons. A number of jails in the UK are currently outsourced to private firms. Announcing the measure, the Ministry of Justice said it intended that at least one prison would be managed by the public sector.” I well remember when I lived in Baltimore in the US and a new Youth Detention Centre was being touted in similar terms as providing much needed jobs. In a more cynical take, a local reporter told me it was a logical infrastructure investment; he described incarceration as “the only growth industry in our city.” Are we there yet?
Announcing the pledge, prisons and probation minister Lucy Frazer QC MP was quoted as saying: “These new jails form a major part of our plans to transform the prison estate, and create environments where offenders can be more effectively rehabilitated and turned away from crime for good.” I was saddened to see the Independent report that, “not all Labour MPs felt as Ms Ribeiro-Addy did, shadow justice secretary David Lammy welcomed the plan as a means of tackling overcrowding in the nation’s prisons.” More like you build them; we will fill them to capacity and beyond! Was Lammy so easily duped by the Tories professed good intentions? They quote his response, “Prisons in England and Wales are overcrowded and understaffed after a decade of underfunding by successive Conservative governments. Measures to ease pressure and ensure offenders can be punished and rehabilitated more effectively should be welcomed. However, we note that the ‘new’ prison in Sutton has now been announced on multiple occasions.”
Our limp Labour opposition are leaving it to backbenchers to show some spine, but the Independent reports on disquiet from other quarters, “…figures from the world of prison reform have urged the government to redirect funding into tackling the root causes of crime, instead of growing its stock of jail cells. Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: ‘In the face of furious local opposition, the government plans to squander hundreds of millions of pounds on building more prisons, which will soon be squalid cesspits of violence and drugs. Rather than dusting down old policy announcements that repeat the mistakes of the past, ministers should be showing us how they will tackle the bigger issues that drive crime –health inequalities, homelessness and a shrinking economy. Put short-term political gain to one side and come up with solutions that will reduce crime, make us safer, and take the country forward.” Starmer and his team appear set to enable a huge expansion of detention!
In America arrests are incentivised to supply the thriving industry within privately run ‘for profit’ jails. A cheaply maintained labour force of workers are stripped of their rights after minor offences get them locked away for lengthy prison terms. A wealthy socialite might get a light-touch caution if caught snorting cocaine, just as Gove has openly admitted to here in the UK. However, in the US, where cheap crack cocaine is the misery salve of the poor and minority ethnic population, an entirely different schedule of harsher sentencing is applied. Police choppers circle menacingly over black neighbourhoods in the hope of spotting a drug transaction going down; they are not there to protect the community, but to size up likely victims to catch in the dragnet that helps populate US jail cells. The BBC Report that, “Prison rates in the US are the world’s highest, at 724 people per 100,000.” Although England and Wales have 145 per 100,000 of the population behind bars, that is a higher rate than China; do we really want to emulate the US?
So what other potential building projects have this Tory Government got in mind as they relentlessly prepare for the resumption of Cummings eugenics ‘Herd Immunity’ program with an engineered cull of the ‘economically inactive’ and the working poor? Before you jump to the conclusion that this is just ultra alarmist scare mongering, it’s important to realize that it was the https://skwawkbox.org/2020/05/14/exclusive-as-govt-claims-peak-passed-and-eases-lockdown-it-is-busy-tripling-temporary-mortuary-capacity-in-preparation-for-huge-new-spike-in-deaths/ of concern as the Government claimed the ‘peak’ had passed just as the Tories were ramping up capacity to deal with an escalation in Covid 19 dead! They reported that, “The government has claimed this week that its decision to relax England’s lock-down could be taken because the country has passed the peak of infections and deaths – and denied that the resulting flood of people back onto public transport and into public spaces will create a new peak.” They rightfully claim that, “the Tories are planning for the actions they are taking – and those they are failing to take – to fuel a huge new spike in cases and deaths.”
A MailOnline Article reported a, “Super morgue in east London built to hold coronavirus victims TRIPLES in size and can now hold 3,000 bodies.” They list: “Epping Forest super morgue has its capacity increased to 3,000; The government has expanded morgue capacity nationwide to 30,000 places; Officials had claimed that 20,000 Covid-19 victims would be ‘a good result’ So far, more than 26,000 people in Britain have fallen victim to coronavirus.” That was May 1st but we are well past that now! “A super morgue set up in east London to hold victims of Covid-19 has tripled in size in the last month as the Government extends capacity across the country to cope with 30,000 bodies.” Epping Forest site has been extended three times. They add that, “Several other temporary mortuaries around Britain have also been set up in Manchester, Birmingham and Essex. In the UK, provision has been made for up to 1,000 corpses to be stored in Manchester, 2,000 in Birmingham and in Essex there are 916 temporary mortuary spaces.”
MailOnline reported that, “Before the coronavirus crisis, Britain had space for 20,000 bodies in mortuaries, but the Government has brought the figure up to 50,000 and made it a top priority to ensure the dead are cared for with the ‘utmost dignity.’ A Cabinet source said the Prime Minister was adamant there would be absolute respect shown to the dead and everything done to avoid grim cases such as yesterday’s incident in New York where 100 decomposing bodies were found stored in two lorries. The Government initially said it would be a ‘good result’ if the UK only suffered 20,000 deaths but the number of victims stands at more than 26,000 with the country still very much in the middle of the crisis.” The Covid cases and fatalities have steadily escalated to the point where the UK has the highest death toll in Europe, second highest globally with the most medical staff to perish from the disease while providing care. Don’t forget the video presentation featured on Skwawkbox showing Covid was to be “turned on and off like a tap!”
This alarming MailOnline article elaborates on the grisly details regarding these depressing facilities noting that, “Finishing touches to the third extension of the Epping Forest site – the size of two football pitches – were made today with industrial diggers and workers installing racking and refrigeration. The area has been hit by the threat of rat infestation and more than 50 black rodent bait boxes, laden with poison, have been placed along the perimeter fencing,10 meters apart. The super morgue, which was originally designed for 1,000, was forced to expand after another temporary mortuary at nearby Leyton, which was built to care for 700 bodies, was suddenly shut down.” However, MailOnline say that, “As mortuaries are expanded, special counselling lines and ‘welfare advisors’ are being set up to offer support to staff and undertakers overwhelmed by the amount of death they are facing.”
MailOnline say that, “Epping Forest mortuary is situated on a section of woodland bordered by the busy A116, a cut through which leads traffic towards the North Circular Road, close to the City of London crematorium and cemetery. There is a constant flow of vehicles entering and leaving at all times of the day. ‘The area is floodlight at night and it is then the eerie hum of the generators can be most clearly heard.” When, “Asked about the latest capacity increase at Epping Forest, a spokesperson for the Strategic Coordination Group told MailOnline: ‘It is crucial that London has adequate facilities to ensure an effective response to the current COVID-19 outbreak.” Other sites are being sought, they note that, “A spokeswoman said: ‘We already know that they’ve arranged almost 30,000 additional funerals, over and above the tens of thousands that they would normally expect to see at this time of year, and this figure continues to grow with every day that goes by.” UK Funeral Directors must now brace for the coming ‘Boris Spike.’
Recent decisions and proposed changes to the law herald the terrifying future we will face. Boris Johnson constantly brags of his pledge to build, build, build, but two abandoned Hospitals still remain unfinished and throughout the country dangerous cladding is still in place on high rise buildings like Grenfell. Instead we are painfully aware that to increase prison terms and criminalize a larger number of people within our population will ultimately require more jail space and we already know that the Tory Government have prioritized building additional morgues so the dystopian nightmare ahead is clear! As stated before, “The public are being ruthlessly manipulated and primed to accept more restriction to our freedoms and a winter ‘Boris Spike’ as the Covid cull, a ‘Slaughter of the Sheeple,’ is ramped up as the Tories consolidate Dictatorship, unless we demand an investigation to overturn the injustice of the Covert 2019 Rigged Election. Target the evil, unelected, mastermind; Cummings is the grenade, oust him and you pull the pin!” DO NOT MOVE ON!