Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
AROUND 4,000 PEOPLE joined a protest in London this afternoon against Britain potentially joining air strikes against Isis in Syria.
Parliament is expected to vote on the issue next week after Prime Minister David Cameron pushed MPs to back the move in the wake of this month’s Paris attacks.
The demonstration was organised by the Stop The War Coalition protest movement.
Its chairman Andrew Murray urged demonstrators to “stand behind” Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, himself a former Stop the War Coalition chairman, in opposing air strikes.
“This is a conflict that cannot and will not be solved by bombing,” Murray told the crowd.
One demonstrator, 65-year-old John Offen, said he and others were worried about a “lack of planning” in the proposed military action.
“We’ve had adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he added, referring to Britain’s role in previous conflicts. “We’ve destabilised all these countries.”
Actor Mark Rylance and musician Brian Eno handed a letter in to Downing Street urging Cameron not to join the international air strikes.
“I don’t think this is the way to support our friends in France,” Rylance, star of miniseries Wolf Hall and Steven Spielberg blockbuster Bridge of Spies, told reporters.
We’ve tried this way before.
Britain is already involved in air strikes against Isis jihadists in Iraq but has not so far taken part in bombing the group’s positions in Syria.
Cameron’s previous government suffered a humiliating defeat in 2013 over military action against Syria’s Assad regime and did not push joining air strikes in Syria to a vote last year, amid resistance from Labour.
Corbyn is facing deep splits in his party over the looming vote.
He opposes air strikes while many of his MPs are in favour and he must decide imminently whether to let individual lawmakers vote with their consciences or try and force them to oppose it.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
They are back…
The recession is officially over…
Hard to beat a good bumblebee monitoring scheme workshop!
Well, I’m pleased to see the return of the Southern Cuckoo Bumblebee. Ireland just wasn’t the same without him. Long may he live!
That’s got to bee good news , I know I’m buzzing about it !
Great book tip for y’all – A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson. Fascinating creatures, and I didn’t pay bumblebees a blind bit of attention down the years. Goulson will amaze you with what we know about them and intrigue/frustrate you with what we don’t. A must read for anyone into nature.
Thanks Winston. Amazon says it’ll be delivered next week! Love bees! Recently got a hive of honey bees on our farm and they’re thriving.
bee-jesus
Well spotted by the lad in St Endas park. Most folks would have swatted it.
Swatted it? Don’t know which side their bread is buttered on those people. Wipe out humans – nature goes on, nay thrives. Wipe out bees – Goodnight Irene – planet earth would be basically Mars with oceans in a short space of time.
I swear that type has been flying around the gardens in my house the last 10 years, looks the same anyway.. Big b***tards
Actually Shirley the one I saw recently in Cavan with a pin pushed through it was quite tiny.
The buzz around town is that this is easily the oldest bee in Ireland!!!!!!
It’s amazing what you find if you actually go out and look, ‘extinct’ frogs, monkeys, birds, fish all just hiding in the undergrowth laughing. We’ve had this grey-a**ed bumble bee and lots of others for years and early Spring this year brought them out to gorge on Willow and Gorse.
The same cuckoo bee that was recently found by naturalists in an old Co. Cavan graveyard has now arrived in Dublin. I am sure that it has been there all along but we just didn’t notice it.
I’ve seen this bee in my garden
I spotted one the other day with a black body and pink arse !!
Ran over one of those with the lawn mower.
Isn’t it strange that every cuckoo bee, in the entire species, does the same thing? Invades the nest and kills the resident queen. You’d expect it from one or two rogues, but the whole lot of them?!
We have a nest of them in our garden.
Stunning creatures.
Awesomeness
BEADS???
have your say