Tag: John Glen MP

Vigil No. 107


Latest vigil – the last before Christmas – attracts strong attendance

December 2025

Over 40 attended this latest peace vigil in Salisbury. That we should feel it necessary to continue is an indication that genuine peace in the area does not seem to be on the horizon. The BBC programme World at One during the week has transmitted from the West Bank and Jerusalem and has witnessed some of the violence against Palestinians. The presenter was surprised at young boys going out morning and evening to attack homes and property. Because they are under age they cannot be stopped, touched or in any way prevented without dire consequences it was explained.

The aftermath of the horrific attack on Jews who were killed or injured on Bondi Beach, Australia continues. An uplifting story from the tragedy was the actions of a local man Ahmed al Ahmed who wrestled the gun of one of the attackers. Some of the hardliners interviewed by the BBC seem to imply that all Arabs are motivated by a desire to kill Jews. That there are some cannot be denied in the same way that some Jews want to see all Palestinians killed or removed. But are these the majority? Reports today are of members of a Jewish pro-Palestine group who have been arrested as part of the crackdown on protests by the Labour government. An irony indeed. There are Jewish groups who are in favour of fair treatment of Palestinians one such is Jewish Network for Palestine.

It is noteworthy that this group has called out the support of the BBC for Israel and its genocide. The claim by some Israelis (on one of the BBC interviews mentioned above) that support for a Palestinian state is a ‘reward for terrorism’ is weakened by these Jewish groups. They claim – which is never challenged by the BBC and other media interviewers – that the violence started on the October 7th two years ago, conveniently forgets the horrific violence on Arabs and Palestinians in 1948/49.

The photo of a key is a symbol of when people lost their homes in 1948/49, and latterly in Gaza, kept their keys in the hope of return.

A video of the vigil can be seen here. Video and photo by courtesy of Peter Gloyns.

107 vigils attended mostly by local people but no sign of the local MP, Mr John Glen. Neither is there a mention of any of the vigils in his weekly piece in the Salisbury Journal. He is reported to be a member of the Conservatives Friends of Israel group. The link explains the range and power of this underreported organisation. A large number of MPs are members and the question is: why are MPs like Mr Glen members of a lobbying organisation for a single country? Are they not there to a) support their constituents and b) to take impartial decisions in the interests of the UK? What is their attitude to genocide and apartheid?

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Rain does not deter vigil


91st vigil attracts strong attendance despite rain

August 2025

The situation in Gaza gets ever worse with 63,000 now dead many of whom women and children. Around 330 have now died as a result of starvation and this number is set to grow. Peace looks a long way off and from the Israeli perspective, with American and Trump’s unqualified support, they are able to continue without let or hindrance. American support has even extended to banning members of the PLO from attending the UN.

The president of the PLO, Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials have had their visas revoked. The reason is because the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio blamed them for undermining peace efforts and for ‘seeking the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state’. We seem to have entered a looking glass world as far as the Americans are concerned. The Palestinians are far from being as white as snow but they are far, far weaker than Israel who have all the weapons and materiel needed for the campaign of destruction in Gaza.

On the subject of weapons, the Defence and Security Equipment International exhibition to be held in London starting shortly will not feature a stand by the Israeli government. Their arms firms will still be there however. The UK government has decided not to allow a delegation to attend. “The Israeli government’s decision to further escalate its military operation in Gaza is wrong,” a UK government spokesperson said. “As a result, we can confirm that no Israeli government delegation will be invited to attend DSEI UK 2025.“

The BBC coyly refers to the exhibition using the word ‘defence’ and there will no doubt be defence firms there. But it is much more about our arms industry, heavily promoted and subsidised by our government, and which sells arms to many of the world’s troubled countries thus aiding in the carnage. The government claims it has ‘robust controls’ but with the big rise in open licences, this is a dubious claim. The fact that they were happy to allow Israel to attend until yesterday, only days before opening, speaks volumes. We should never forget the victims in these conflicts are women, children and the vulnerable. British firms profit, millions suffer. The extent of UK support for Israel is hard to quantify. RAF flights over Gaza continue the purpose of which is unclear.

There is still no sign of the local MP Mr John Glen and he did not mention the vigils in his weekly Salisbury Journal column which focused on his work getting to know people in his constituency. He is a member of the Friends of Israel lobby group in the Commons.

    A video of the vigil, attended by around 40, is available here courtesy of Peter Gloyns.

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    Death penalty report Nov/Dec


    December 2022

    The latest death penalty report for November/December is now available thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. At 8pp it shows there is a lot going on in the world and actions by Saudi authorities with their barbaric executions are particularly noteworthy. The distraction of the World Cup next door in Qatar no doubt helped to act as a shield. Note as ever that China remains the world’s worst executioner with numbers in the thousands but details are a state secret.

    Report (Word)Download
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    Bill of Rights


    Plans to abolish the Human Rights Act and replace it with a Bill of Rights was set out in the Queen’s Speech given to parliament today (10 May 2022) by Prince Charles (the Queen was indisposed).

    The Conservatives have long wanted to rid themselves of the HRA seeing it as a drag on the British legal system, not allowing them to deport foreign criminals at the end of their sentences and providing opportunities for ‘lefty lawyers’ to use spurious grounds of a right to family life to frustrate deportations. Salisbury’s local MP John Glen is one of those who has supported the idea of abolition. The problem all along has been replace it with what? The proposal has appeared in all the recent party manifestos but action has seemed difficult to achieve. The government is keen to capitalise on our departure from Europe (and there are other bills in the speech concerning post Brexit matters) and the role of Strasbourg has long been a thorn they wish to remove. Below is the detail behind the speech:

    Bill of Rights

    [Extract of the proposed bill of rights legislation from the Queen’s speech]

     “My Government will ensure the constitution is defended. My Ministers will restore the balance of power between the legislature and the courts by introducing a Bill of Rights.”

    The purpose of the Bill is to:

    ● Introduce a Bill of Rights which will ensure our human rights framework meets the needs of the society it serves and commands public confidence.

    ● End the abuse of the human rights framework and restore some common sense to our justice system. The main benefits of the Bill would be:

    ● Defending freedom of speech by promoting greater confidence in society to express views freely, thereby enhancing public debate.

    ● Curbing the incremental expansion of a rights culture without proper democratic oversight, which has displaced due focus on personal responsibility and the public interest.

    ● Reducing unnecessary litigation and avoiding undue risk aversion for bodies delivering public services.

    ● Tackling the issue of foreign criminals evading deportation, because their human rights are given greater weight than the safety and security of the public.

    The main elements of the Bill are:

    ● Establishing the primacy of UK case law, clarifying there is no requirement to follow the Strasbourg case law and that UK Courts cannot interpret rights in a more expansive manner than the Strasbourg Court.

    ● Ensuring that UK courts can no longer alter legislation contrary to its ordinary meaning and constraining the ability of the UK courts to impose ‘positive obligations’ on our public services without proper democratic oversight by restricting the scope for judicial legislation.

    ● Guaranteeing spurious cases do not undermine public confidence in human rights so that courts focus on genuine and credible human rights claims. The responsibility to demonstrate a significant disadvantage before a human rights claim can be heard in court will be placed on the claimant.

    ● Recognising that responsibilities exist alongside rights by changing the way that damages can be awarded in human rights claims, for example by ensuring that the courts consider the behaviour of the claimant when considering making an award.

    Territorial extent and application

    ● The Bill will extend and apply across the UK.

    Key facts

    ● An estimated 70 per cent of foreign national offenders who had their deportation overturned in the last five years on human rights grounds in the First Tier Tribunal did so due to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Right to Family Life).

    ● Between 2005 and 2011, the Prison Service in England and Wales faced successful legal challenges from over 600 prisoners on human rights grounds. This has cost the taxpayer around £7 million, including compensation paid out and legal costs.

    [END OF EXTRACT]

    What is the Human Rights Act?

    The Human Rights Act protects all of us. It brings home fundamental, universal rights we all have as human beings, and allows us to challenge authorities if they violate them. It’s an invisible safety net, working to ensure our rights are respected. It is a crucial defence for the most vulnerable.

    We know the Human Rights Act works. It worked for the Hillsborough families in their fight for justice. It worked for the victims of John Worboys. It worked to overturn the near total ban on abortion in Northern Ireland. We don’t need to change it.  

    The Police Bill has shown that the government does not want to see protests against its actions. The proposed bill of rights will further weaken the rights of ordinary citizens against the power of the state. Take the clause above ‘guaranteeing spurious cases do not undermine public confidence in human rights …’ Who is to decide what is spurious? A government minister? Or ‘reducing unnecessary legislation to avoid undue risk aversion by public bodies’. Reducing checks on fire safety is almost certainly to be found to be one of the causes of the fire at Grenfell Tower.

    The local group will be among many opposing this attack on the HRA. Perhaps the bill should be renamed the ‘Bill of Reduced Rights’?

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    October minutes


    Attached are the group minutes of the meeting held on 14 October thanks to group member Fiona for preparing them. A full meeting and there is a note of our meeting with the MP for Salisbury Mr John Glen. The meeting was successful and our three representatives pointed out the many misgivings people have over the proposed legislation. Over 200 organisations – including Amnesty – are very concerned at three major bills currently before parliament which singly and together will have a major impact on our human rights. There is also the review of the Human Rights Act the results of which are awaited any time.

    October minutesDownload

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    Meeting with Mr Glen MP


    Members of the Salisbury group will be meeting the MP for Salisbury on Friday

    In common with well over a hundred organisations, Amnesty is extremely concerned about several of the bills currently on their way through parliament. These are the enormous Police, Crime and Sentencing bill, the Justice and Courts bill and the Nationality and Borders bill. Together with the expected review of the Human Rights Act, they amount to a concerted attack on our freedoms. The group wishes to express our concerns to the MP. We will report on his reactions after the meeting.

    The views of the Justice Secretary Dominic Raab were discussed in our last post.

    Podcast

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    Salisbury MP accused of ‘kowtowing’ to China


    John Glen, the MP for Salisbury, has been accused by the ex-leader of his party of ‘kowtowing’ to China

    This accusation was made in the Mail on Sunday, a Conservative supporting tabloid paper, in an article on 24 October 2020.  Mr Glen, a Treasury Minister, gave a speech at an event organised by the 48 Group Club which was set up to promote Sino-British relations.  Mr Glen is alleged to have said that ‘Britain and China are natural partners and that the two sides have broad prospects for cooperation in financial services and the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative.’ [No text of the speech is available on the 48 Group Club’s website or on the Treasury site.]

    Pursuing increased commercial contact and encouraging greater trade was a creditable endeavour.  Greater  understanding was always to be supported and many of the 500 or so individuals who are members of the Club are likely to have had that in mind when joining.

    But since Xi Jinping came to power, things have changed markedly.  China has become a repressive state with a catalogue of infringements against international norms.  It’s justice system is plagued by unfair trials and the use of torture.  Repression of whole areas of the country including Tibet and Xinjiang is severe.  The Government continues to harass, intimidate and prosecute human right defenders.  All media and the internet are rigorously censored.  There is little religious freedom with churches, mosques and temples destroyed on government orders.  China executes more of its citizens than the rest of the world combined.

    Over the past year, attention has focused on the treatment of Uighurs, a million of whom are incarcerated in so-called training establishments which nevertheless are surrounded by high walls and watchtowers and are closed to outside observers.  Recently, concern has been expressed at the use of forced labour to produce cotton and western companies are being urged to ensure cotton produced using such labour is not used in their products.

    In July a book was published by Clive Hamilton and Mareika Ohlberg Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World’ (One World Press) which claims that the 48 Group Club is a hub ‘through which Beijing grooms Britain’s elites’.  Looking into the group does seem to reveal some curious issues.  It claims many members of the political establishment some of whom say they have no knowledge of joining.  Who funds them is not explained on their website.

    48 Group is a hub ‘through which Beijing grooms Britain’s elites’ book claims

    Mr Glen cannot claim ignorance of the appalling human rights situation in China since many members of the Salisbury Amnesty group have written to him on many occasions.  He will be aware of the concerns about China’s increasing bellicose actions against Taiwan and border conflict with India.  China has reneged on the Hong Kong agreement and is tightening its grip on the state.  However, we know from the They Work for you site that Mr Glen ‘generally voted against laws to promote equality and human rights’.  Many countries are beginning to review their relations with the country in view of the policies of the communist regime and the threats they pose.

    Mr Duncan Smith claims that the speech was written for him which, as it does not seem to have been published or made available, we cannot know.  It does suggest however, that the government is anxious to press on with closer commercial contacts with China despite the increasing risks and despite the appalling human rights situation there.  It is perhaps an inevitable result of the Brexit decision (supported by Mr Glen) and the shock that will give to the economy: we must seek business where we may and not be too squeamish about with whom.

    That may be so, but for Mr Glen allegedly to praise President Xi, as the Mail on Sunday claims, to a suspect lobbying organisation, raises many uncomfortable questions.

    Sources: Mail on Line [accessed 15 December 2020]; Endole; Daily Express; upnewsinfo.com; Amnesty International.  Sites searched but with no reference to the speech: Salisbury Journal; Treasury; John Glen MP’s website [all accessed 18 December 2020]

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    Human Rights Act


    November 2019

    The Salisbury Amnesty group is politically neutral.  We have an interest in the Human rights Act passed with all party consensus in 1998.  The Conservative Party’s manifesto for the 2019 general election says:

    Once we get Brexit done, Britain will take back control of its laws.  As we end the supremacy of European law, we will be free to craft legislation and regulations that maintain high standards but which work best for the UK.  We want a balance of rights, rules and entitlements that benefits all the people and all the parts of our United Kingdom.

    After Brexit we also need to look at the broader aspects of our constitution: the relationship between the Government, Parliament and the courts; the functioning of the Royal Prerogative; the role of the House of Lords; and access to justice for ordinary people.  The ability of our security services to defend us against terrorism and organised crime is critical.  We will update the Human Rights Act and administrative law to ensure that there is a proper balance between the rights of individuals, our vital national security and effective government. We will ensure that judicial review is available to protect the rights of the individuals against an overbearing state, while ensuring that it is not abused to conduct politics by another means or to create needless delays.  In our first year we will set up a Constitution, Democracy & Rights Commission that will examine these issues in depth, and come up with proposals to restore trust in our institutions and in how our democracy operates.  Page 48 in the section: Protect our Democracy (our italics)

    We can find no similar pledge in the other two main party’s manifesto.  To some extent this is a familiar promise.  In the past, the party has promised to repeal the act and to introduce a bill on rights and responsibilities.  Probably because of the pressure on parliamentary time with Brexit, such a bill has never emerged.  Promises to abolish the act also have never emerged.  We have asked what part of the act they want to abolish but this has never been answered.  The Party does seem to have a problem with the act as it is currently drafted.

    The words themselves tell you little and may even seem on the face of it, benign.  What does ‘update the act’ mean?  Seeking a balance between the rights of individuals and our vital national security and effective government is a bit of a clue.  A regular theme of the right wing press is the threat posed by the act to our national security.  This for example from the Daily Mail in 2015:

    Another day, another insult to common sense courtesy of the Human Rights Act and the lawyers enriched by this toxic piece of legislation, which allows them so profitably to ride roughshod over the wishes of Parliament and the British public.   Editorial, 1 August 2015

    We shall be keeping a watching brief on Conservative party plans if they assume power on 13 December 2019.

    Visitors to this site may like to visit Rights Info where this manifesto promise is also discussed.

     

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    Death penalty report: September – October


    Tree of Life. Pic: Salisbury Amnesty

    The latest death penalty report produced by the group is available and thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it.  In the report is a link to the Japanese man who has been imprisoned and on death row for four decades and is now of interest again because the Pope has become involved.

    Sept – Oct report (Word)

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    World Day Against the Death Penalty


    The death penalty in Saudi Arabia: Salisbury group action
    Thursday 10th October 2019 will be the 17th World Day Against the Death Penalty so we are writing to invite you to take part in our Group Action.
    This year we are focusing on the practice of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.  A report by Baroness Kennedy, presented to the 42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, has highlighted the ‘alarming’ rise in state executions, including crucifixions.  It states that more than 134 people have been executed this year, with at least 24 more prisoners at imminent risk, including three children.
    We are asking supporters to write to John Glen MP on 10th October, drawing his attention to the report, and calling on him to make representations to the Government to support its recommendations and to condemn Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty.
    I have attached a copy of a suggested letter to Mr Glen (the member of parliament for Salisbury), which you are welcome to use, or to adapt into your own words.  The letter contains a link to Baroness Kennedy’s report.
    If you are able to help, many thanks.

     

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