Time for Change: Campaign for an Independent Green Thanet MP and Ramsgate Mayor

Yvette Cooper is the new UK Foreign Minister with a golden opportunity for UK 21C diplomacy reform: 1. Brexit’s Broken Promises The Gibraltar treaty remains unpublished. Northern Ireland’s border remains a regulatory minefield. CPTPP is signed but stalled. Cooper must release treaty texts, impact assessments, and negotiation memos. And begin a rapid Rejoin after the Brexit mess. 2. CPTPP: Signed, Sealed, Ignored Canada and Mexico still haven’t ratified UK accession after almost  year. SMEs remain locked out. Investor-State Dispute clauses threaten democratic sovereignty. Cooper must clarify implementation timelines and ISDS exposure. Silence is complicity. 3. Embassy Trade Targets: Lobbying in the Shadows UK embassies push trade deals, if any, with zero public oversight. Who sets the targets? Who benefits? FOIs will demand embassy-level lobbying logs, promotional budgets, and corporate access records. Cooper must expose the machinery behind the handshake and deliver trade targets p...

  Ten Big Reforms for Isaan, Thailand and Cambodia: A Borderless Future of Justice and Infrastructure 1. Rail Equity Corridor Launch a 600 km Isaan Rail Equity Plan  North-South connecting Mukdahan, Amnat Charoen, Yasothon, and Surin to Khon Kaen and Bangkok. Simultaneously fund a Surin–Siem Reap spur to rupture the rail desert and enable Khmer-Isaan cultural mobility. 2. Cross-Border Health Pact Establish a Thai–Cambodian Border Health Compact : shared clinics, mobile units, and Khmer-language services in Surin, Sisaket, and Battambang. Fund joint disease surveillance and maternal care. 3. Khmer Language Rights Charter Recognise Northern Khmer as a protected regional language. Fund bilingual education, media, and signage in Surin, Sisaket, and Buriram. In all sincerity, partner with Cambodian cultural ministries for curriculum co-design and temples website. 4. Ban on Land Grabs and Elite Logging Criminalise elite land seizures in Isaan and Cambodian border zones. Launch a j...

  After the Guns Fall Silent: What the Thai–Khmer Ceasefire Means for Isaan and the Borderlands The July 28 ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia marked a fragile pause in a conflict that displaced over 300,000 civilians and left dozens dead. Brokered under pressure from Malaysia, China, and the U.S. , the agreement includes a freeze on troop movements, a ban on attacks against civilians, and the deployment of ASEAN observers .  But for communities along the border—especially in Thailand’s Isaan region —the real question is: what now? The future all the more uncertain with PM Paetongtarn forced out of power by the Constitutional Court from the leaked Hun Sen phone call.  The PM role is vacant and presumably her Soft Power role with the former an interim PM role just for the next 4 months, possibly a Pheu Thai-Move Forward coalition then Charter reform and elections. So stasis for Thailand until early 2026 at best on major issues on Land Bridge, Digital Wallet etc and f...

  Jakarta’s riots weren’t just about perks—they were about power. When Indonesian MPs awarded themselves allowances 10× the minimum wage, the streets erupted. Protesters demanded not just rollbacks, but rupture: wage justice, transparency, and an end to elite impunity.  Westminster should take note. Here in the UK, Parliament remains a fortress of entitlement. The 2009 expenses scandal exposed how MPs flipped homes, claimed for duck houses, and redecorated on the taxpayer’s dime. But the deeper rot— structural privilege, foreign influence, and institutional excess —was never excised. Bills cap Now: Cap the Cash, Cut the Corruption The average MP earns £86,584 , plus expenses, pensions, and often consultancy fees . IPSA continues to approve pay rises with minimal public oversight. Meanwhile, the UK median wage hovers around £33,000 . The gap is not just economic—it’s ethical. We need a Bills cap : a hard ceiling on total MP remuneration—salary, expenses, and perks—pegged to 1....

  As floodwaters rise across the Philippines, so does public fury. Not just at nature’s wrath—but at the engineered disaster of corruption. Billions of pesos have been siphoned off through “ghost” flood control projects, substandard infrastructure, and contractor monopolies.  The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) admitted that 20% of the ₱545 billion flood budget went to just 15 contractors , many linked to entrenched political clans. This isn’t mismanagement. It’s state-enabled looting . The public fury is only outgunned by Jakarta riots at Indonesian MPs featherbedding their salaries and perks. Shades of UK PPE or Migrant Hotels or Duck houses and Flipping or Baroness Mone and Dido or the King Charles Waitrose bag of castle funds and gongs. Senator Panfilo Lacson exposed how kickbacks now reach 58% of project costs , with road reflectors priced at ₱11,720 instead of ₱1,800. Solar streetlights were procured at ₱157,000 each—five times market value. The result? R...

  The Thai-Cambodian border is once again a theatre of contested sovereignty, civilian resistance, and diplomatic choreography. In Sisaket and Ubon Ratchathani provinces, Khmer villagers were seen dismantling Thai barbed wire barricades , a symbolic act of defiance that underscores the fragility of the July 28 ceasefire brokered by Malaysia, China, and the United States. In all sincerity it's hard to see new barbed wire barriers as anything but a provocation at best or pre-truce land grab at best. Despite formal agreements to freeze troop movements and refrain from provocations, both sides accuse each other of violations. Thailand claims Cambodia has planted new PMN-2 anti-personnel mines, injuring soldiers and civilians. Cambodia counters that Thai troops breached the ceasefire with a mission creep of entering contested zones near Ta Moan Temple.  The ASEAN observer mission , obstructed by drunk Cambodian forces during a recent inspection, revealed the depth of mistrust and w...