15 NOVEMBER

BRITISH REPLACE CORONERS COURTS BY ARMY RUN INQUESTS IN TEN IRISH COUNTIES On 3 September 1920, the British authorities in Ireland suspended all coroner’s inquests in the Irish counties of Clare, Cork, Galway, Kerry, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Roscommon and Tipperary . The purpose was simple.  To prevent shameful revelations on how and why innocent…

UK REFUSES TO PROSCRIBE THE UDA EVEN AFTER FINDING A LARGE CACHE OF WEAPONS On 26 May 1981, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) raided the headquarters of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and discovered a large cache of lethal weapons including a Thompson sub-machine gun, six Sten guns, a revolver and 550 rounds…

GENERAL ADMITS THE FUTILITY OF ‘ACTS OF GREAT VIOLENCE’ IN IRELAND [ 10 January 1798 ] Major General John Moore disapproved of the enthusiasm with which other British officers committed atrocities in Ireland while suppressing local uprisings against British rule. On 10 January 1798, he made an insightful observation in his diary. KITCHENER ARRIVES IN…

BRITISH AIRWAYS’ DOUBLE STANDARDS A letter published on 3 August 2018 in the Guardian and signed by leading LGBTQIA+ activists and several MPs, condemned British Airways for profiting from its willing cooperation in the deportation of failed asylum seekers who had been persecuted for their sexuality, while at the same time sponsoring the UK’s largest…

BRITISH TREASURY HALTS RELIEF TO FAMINE STRUCK IRISH PEASANTS [ 17 July 1846 ] On this day in 1846, Charles Trevelyan, Assistant Secretary of the British Treasury, on learning of the ‘very unfavourable’ reports on the potato harvest’,  wrote to Sir Randolph Ralph, head of Ireland’s Relief Commission, warning him that ‘the only way to…

LET THE SAUDIS BEHAVE AS THEY WANT TO, SO LONG AS THEY REMAIN AN ALLY. 4 October 1993 – Addressing a conference entitled “Inside Saudi Arabia” at London’s Chatham House, Margaret Thatcher declared that she considered the country “a strong force for moderation and stability,” that she was “a great admirer of Saudi Arabia and…