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Spectator
37 minutes ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Lord Falconer's selective constitutional memory
Good old Charlie Falconer. For more than 15 years now, the noble Lord has been trying, desperately, to ram assisted dying through parliament. Kim Leadbeater's Bill represents his eighth attempt at legalising suicide following previous efforts in 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022 and 2024. Now, with a narrow majority of just 23 MPs backing Leadbeater's legislation, Falconer clearly senses the victory that has eluded him for so long… The New Labour grandee penned a piece in the Times last week headlined 'Assisted dying will end the anguish. We won't let wreckers derail it.' It concluded that MPs had 'decided the law must change. The Lords will scrutinise and improve but it will respect and give effect to that decision.' In short, what MPs say, goes. Appearing subsequently on Tuesday's edition of the Today programme, he was asked whether the role of the Lords was to 'ultimately uphold something that the directly elected members of the Commons have decided to go ahead with.' 'Correct', replied Falconer. But has the good Lord himself stuck to this self-denying ordinance? A quick look at his voting record would certainly suggest not. For back in October 2011, he was one of 220 Peers, mostly Labour, who tried to vote down the Coalition's Health and Social Care Bill – despite it having passed the Commons with a majority of 65 MPs at Third Reading. He subsequently tried to delay Tory changes to tax credits in October 2015, despite it passing the Commons with a majority of 22. And, more recently, he voted against the 2023 Illegal Migration Bill – despite a Commons majority of 59. The point here is *not* that the Lords cannot vote down legislation passed by MPs. It is that those supporting assisted dying ought to recognise the rights and responsibilities of the Upper House – and be honest about their own voting records in parliament. Otherwise there will be inevitable talk of rules for thee but not for me…
Hamilton Spectator
3 hours ago
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Chamber of Commerce GM shares findings from recent Washington visit
Before heading to Washington, D.C. for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's U.S. mission, Stratford and District Chamber of Commerce general manager Aaron Martin shared with the Times that he was focused on getting perspective. Gratefully, over the two-day trip on June 10-11, Martin got just what he was looking for. After the chamber's annual general meeting on June 19, Martin shared what happened over the course of the mission to the chamber's membership. Because most events were held under Chatham House rules (a governing set of rules that dictates that members can talk about what was discussed but couldn't attribute what as said to specific people), most of what he said was in generality. Still, the mission provided answers to some of the questions Martin and the wider local business community had. One startling fact was that most of the U.S. proponents were quite open about the fact that economically the trade measures the current U.S. administration has implemented (like across the board tariffs) are not helpful for either the U.S. or its partners, though it played well with U.S. President Donald Trump's base and that was the main driver for why they were implemented. 'The Americans want a sacrificial lamb,' Martin said. 'And the two things that kept coming up was timber and dairy … If they did attack either timber or the dairy bit, they wouldn't economically benefit from it, but the political basis that they get from it – they want to make sure they're getting a win for their loggers, they're getting a win for their farmers. And that's where they're really going for this. 'The American public also hasn't felt the impacts of tariffs yet,' Martin went on to say. 'So when this was all started … a lot of companies started doing front loading, where essentially they would buy everything they could and stock up their warehouses. A lot of people estimate that'll last for around a year, after which point you'll start to see issues in pricing. Prices will rise because the tariffs will actually come into effect. 'This can be an opportunity for the Canadian government to get a better negotiation with this. As the American consumer feels the squeeze more and more with the tariffs, they'll have more political pressure pushing the other way … If the Canadian government can hold out to then there's a real chance that (Republicans) will lose the House (of Representatives).' One point that Martin said was agreed upon across the table was China's abuse of the current trade system, using it to pit countries against each other. China, while not necessarily a boogeyman of the mission, was prevalent in every discussion that was had. Martin also said that there was more than one representative from Alberta in Washington during the mission that openly expressed support for secession. This was aside from the purpose of the chamber's mission, but Martin felt it was something worth sharing with the group. 'I think that's something that's been brought up in the media, that this is a non-issue. Nothing's ever going to happen. We have to ensure that Albertans, the average Albertan, doesn't feel they're getting the raw deal that they are feeling, that Confederation is to their benefit and that they want to be a part of it. We need to be unified here. And I think belittling the way they're feeling isn't the way to go forward.' Overall, Martin called the experience very eye-opening and encouraged anyone with further questions to reach out to him and the chamber, which continues to monitor the international situation and its local impacts in Perth County and area. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Los Angeles Times
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
How Kamasi Washington and 100 musicians filled LACMA's empty new building with a sonic work of art
'The general public was admitted to new Los Angeles County Museum of Art for the first time on Friday night — not to look at art but to listen to music,' wrote Times music critic Albert Goldberg in 1965. Exactly 70 years and three months later, history repeated itself. Thursday night was the first time the public was allowed into LACMA's David Geffen Galleries. The occasion was a massive sonic event led by jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington. More than a hundred musicians spread out in nine groups along 900-foot serpentine route of Peter Zumthor's new building, still empty of art. The celebration, which drew arts and civic leaders for the first of three preview nights, was far grander than the concert on March 26,1965, that opened LACMA's Leo S. Bing Theatre the night before the doors opened to the museum's original galleries. That occasion, a program by the legendary Monday Evening Concerts in which Pierre Boulez conducted the premiere of his 'Éclat,' helped symbolize an exuberant L.A. coming of age, with the Music Center having opened three months earlier. Monday Evening Concerts had been a true L.A. event drawing local musical celebrities including Igor Stravinsky and showing off L.A.'s exceptional musicians. The mandolinist in 'Éclat,' for instance, was Sol Babitz, the father of the late, quintessential L.A. writer Eve Babitz. Boulez, an explosive composer, eventually turned the 10-minute ''Éclat,' for 15 instruments' into a 25-minute orchestral masterpiece, 'Éclat/Multiples,' and left unfinished sketches behind to extend that to a full hour. Washington turned out to be the ideal radical expansionist to follow in Boulez's footsteps for the new LACMA, with a resplendent enlargement of his 2018 half-hour EP, 'Harmony of Difference.' The short tracks — 'Desire,' 'Knowledge,' 'Perspective,' 'Humility,' 'Integrity' and 'Truth' — employ nearly three dozen musicians in bursts of effusive wonder. For LACMA, Washington tripled the number of musicians and the length. What some critics thought were bursts of bluster, however enthralling, became outright splendor. Introducing the program, LACMA Director Michael Govan called it an event that has never happened before and may never happen again. I got little sense of what this building will be like as a museum with art on the walls, but it's a great space for thinking big musically and, in the process, for finding hope in an L.A. this year beset by fires and fear-inducing troops on our streets. Washington is one of our rare musicians who thrives on excess. He has long been encouraged to aim toward concision, especially in his longer numbers, in which his untiring improvisations can become exhausting in their many climaxes. But that misses the point. I've never heard him play anything, short or long, that couldn't have been three times longer. His vision is vast, and he needs space. In the David Geffen Galleries, he got it. The nine ensembles included a large mixed band that he headed, along with ensembles of strings, brass, woodwinds and choruses. Each played unique arrangements of the songs, not quite synchronized, but if you ambled the long walkways, you heard the material in different contexts as though this were sonic surrealism. Acoustically, the Geffen is a weird combination. The large glass windows and angled concrete walls reflect sound in very different ways. Dozens of spaces vary in shape, size and acoustical properties. During a media tour earlier in the day, I found less echo than might be expected, though each space had its own peculiarities. Washington's ensembles were all carefully amplified and sounded surprisingly liquid, which made walking a delight as the sounds of different ensembles came in and out of focus. A chorus' effusiveness gradually morphed into an ecstatic Washington saxophone solo down the way that then became a woodwind choir that had an organ-like quality. The whole building felt alive. There was also the visual element. The concert took place at sunset, the light through the large windows ever changing, the 'Harmony of Difference' becoming the differences of the bubbling tar pits nearby or the street life on Wilshire or LACMA's Pavilion for Japanese Art, which looks lovely from the new galleries. Govan's vision is of a place where art of all kinds from all over comes together, turning the galleries into a promenade of discovery. Musically, this falls more in line with John Cage's 'Musicircus,' in which any number of musical ensembles perform at chance-derived times as a carnival of musical difference — something for which the Geffen Galleries is all but tailor-made. Nevertheless, Washington brilliantly demonstrated the new building's potential for dance, opera, even theater. The museum may not have made performance a priority in recent years, but Washington also reminded us that the premiere of Boulez' 'Éclat' put music in LACMA's DNA. Seven decades on, Zumthor, whether he intended it or not, now challenges LACMA to become LACMAP: Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Performance.
Global News
a day ago
- Politics
- Global News
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sues Fox News for defamation, demands $787M
California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit on Friday accusing Fox News of defaming him through its coverage of a phone call between himself and U.S. President Donald Trump. The suit seeks US$787 million in damages and a court order prohibiting the outlet from posting or broadcasting segments that say the governor lied about a call he had with Trump in the late-night hours of June 6 and into June 7, reports the Times. 'No more lies,' Newsom wrote in a post on X that announced his lawsuit, which was filed in Superior Court in Delaware, where Fox News is incorporated. No more lies. I'm suing Fox News for $787 — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 27, 2025 Story continues below advertisement As pointed out by CNBC, the punitive damages sought by Newsom are almost identical to the amount Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems in 2023, settling a lawsuit that accused the network of publicizing false election conspiracies that its machines incorrectly counted votes for Trump as votes for former president Joe Biden and swayed the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump's behalf, it should face consequences — just like it did in the Dominion case,' Newsom told Politico in a statement. This most recent suit centres around Newsom's claim that Fox News host Jesse Watters lied about the timing of the governor's phone calls with Trump during protests in Los Angeles over the president's deportation policies. Story continues below advertisement The suit cites Watters' statement, 'Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him?' which he made while Fox ran a chyron that said, 'Gavin Lied About Trump's Call.' According to the complaint, Newsom spoke by phone with Trump on June 6 into early June 7 — soon after protests broke out in Los Angeles, following federal immigration raids. Trump later sent National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the state, bypassing the governor. 4:20 LA protests: Newsom accuses Trump of 'reckless escalation' as police lay charges against rioters Newsom said he did not speak again with Trump, and confirmed this after Trump falsely told reporters on June 10 that he had spoken with the governor 'a day ago.' The complaint said Fox News nonetheless made a misleading video clip and multiple false statements about the timing of the last call, acting with actual malice in an effort to brand Newsom a liar and curry favour with Trump. Story continues below advertisement The complaint accuses Fox News of demonstrating 'willingness to protect President Trump from his own false statements by smearing his political opponent Governor Newsom in a dispute over when the two last spoke during a period of national strife.' According to the New York Times, Newsom would drop the lawsuit if Fox News issued a retraction and Watters apologized on-air for saying the governor lied about his call with Trump. The governor is also seeking unspecified compensatory damages for allegedly smearing his reputation. — With files from Reuters
Spectator
a day ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Why does Lord Hemer think two-tier justice claims are disgusting?
Lord Hermer, the Attorney General who personally authorised the prosecution of Lucy Connolly for a tweet, has broken his silence on the claims that we have a two-tier justice system, and he's angry. Hemer is also very wrong, as an investigation into Palestine Action demonstrates. Hermer, like much of the British regime, prefers convenient pretence over honesty The Attorney General was interviewed for Starmer's Stormy Year, a new Radio 4 programme assessing how the government's first year has gone. When the discussion turned to last August's riots, Hermer became audibly angry, describing the two-tier claim as 'frankly disgusting'. He seemed rather confused about where the impression of double standards has come from, insisting that: 'What some people were seeking to do, bringing up 'two-tier', was to make a comparison with the way that people were being treated for trying to kill police officers – and I want to reiterate that, 'kill police officers' – with the response to protests on the streets of London… That's where the two-tier comes from.' Perhaps there are people who believe those who rioted or threatened the lives of police officers should have been spared jail. I've never met them. I have met and spoken with many who have deep, serious concerns about how unjust our justice system is becoming. When I have written about this matter I have focused on inconsistencies in charging decisions, particularly for speech crimes, evidently excessive sentencing, or attempts to codify advantage for those who aren't white, male and Christian. One of the most egregious examples is Hamit Coskun's prosecution and conviction for burning a Quran – a man who burned a Bible in similar circumstances is unlikely to have even been arrested. This is what two-tier justice looks like. A system where the law is nowhere close to equal and fair, and in which the state uses its power capriciously to target those who the ruling class do not approve of, while decriminalising the acts of those who have its support. I can't believe that Hermer is unaware of this. Unfortunately for the Attorney General, today the Times has published a tremendous piece of investigative journalism in which they infiltrated Palestine Action, and attended one of their online meetings. The organiser assured members of the soon-to-be proscribed organisation that the establishment is on their side, saying that 'we're seeing people not get charged with the things that they should get charged with', that serious charges were often diluted or dropped altogether, that Palestine activists tended to 'get off lightly' at sentencing, and provided a list of recent cases in which the activists had been spared serious punishment. If that isn't two-tier justice, what is? Hermer insisted that 'we have one justice system, that is an independent justice system…and I think we all need to get behind it not seek to undermine it.' He must know this isn't true. Speaking about people who 'undermine' the justice system can only be an effort to shut down an uncomfortable truth. The Attorney General clearly believes that those of us who've noticed the double-standards in our system are wrong to mention it. He, like much of the British regime, prefers convenient pretence over honesty, and bristles at challenge or accountability from politicians or the public. This behaviour is not new. It's why the rape gangs were kept quiet. It's why the Sentencing Council was so furious at being challenged by the Lord Chancellor. It's also evident in this week's claim that the small boats crisis is being directed by Russia, as opposed to a very obvious consequence of providing migrants free accommodation in London's zone one, along with easy access to paid work for companies like Deliveroo. Everywhere the rot spreads, and everywhere the state would prefer lies to hard truths.
