Swap tankers with Iran

In answer to Robert Spencer's piece on "Iran offers to swap seized oil tankers" (The Times 25/7/19) this is an opportunity for Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab to show real initiative and save face for all parties involved.
The UK should offer Iran the chance to sell the crude oil bound for Syria to a third party that is not subject to sanctions and even help by buying the oil for the UK if it is suitable for our refineries..
This way the UK can release the tanker Grace 2.
The iranians can then reciprocate and release the Stena Impero.
The US can be reassured that the crude oil in Gibraltar is no longer contraband and would have no legal ground to complain.
I suspect that President Trump (as opposed to his bellicose aide john Bolton) is also looking for a non-military solution to the problem of Iran and this tanker exchange could be the basis for further welcome talks between Iran and USA through British and EU mediators.

Inter-Community Racism

Unpublished letter to "i"

Dear Sir,
Your excellent columnist Patrick Cockburn is right to draw attention to the link between the Brexit campaign and the reappearance of overt racism in the community.("Brexit has unleashed the forces of racism" i 15-16/6/19). What has become a worrying phenomenon for me (and perhaps not so visible to the average white British commentator), is the growing racism in the last few years in everyday conversation between different religious and ethnic minorities that espouse Brexit thinking it makes them more British and criticize each other in their home language while remaining polite to each other when speaking English. Many of my friends from different ethnic communities complain about this and I can vouch for this happening with some East European minorities. Of course on the whole ethnic community leaders and ethnic online media continue to carry the torch for mutual tolerance and cultural cohesion but all the same it remains a worrying trend that is difficult to monitor.
Yours faithfully
Wiktor Moszczynski

No Deal Brexit 13/06/19

This is from the beginning of this week's @CommonsEUexit Select Committee. The message is clear, a no deal Brexit would devastate UK manufacturing. @hilarybennmp @NashSGC @TimRycroft_FDF @nvonwestenholz @NFUtweets pic.twitter.com/a7NpfpOBH2

— Martin Cooper (@mpc_1968) June 13, 2019

D-Day and Poland

Polish cruiser ORP Dragon shelling German positions on D-Day

Letter to the Editor of Daily Telegraph

Dear Sirs,

In reading your splendid text on D-Day {DT 06/06/19} which described the immense risks and the foreseen loss of life in the military strategic planning for Operation Overlord it is often easy to overlook the political planning behind that decision. It was made just as the Red Army was pushing the German army out of Russia and into Eastern Europe and there was concern that after the collapse of Germany a triumphant Soviet Union could dictate the peace in Europe.

The problem is that while D-Day saved Western Europe it was too late to save Eastern Europe. By refusing earlier to challenge the Third Reich through the Balkans and by delaying the Normandy landings until June 1944 the Western Allies gave the Soviet "liberators" the opportunity of destroying the independence of countries like Poland, the UK's longest most faithful ally against Germany. Despite the crucial input of Polish Armed Forces in the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlantic and in the campaigns in Norway, North Africa and Italy and not omitting the 11 Polish airforce squadrons, the Polish cruiser ORP Dragon, 4 Polish destroyers and numerous Polish civilian troop ships who participated in D-Day itself, as well as the subsequent role of the Polish Armoured Brigade in Normandy and Polish paratroopers at Arnhem, Poland was abandoned to its Soviet fate and eventually her servicemen were not even allowed to participate in the London Victory Parade in 1946.

Yours faithfully
Wiktor Moszczynski
Chair
Friends of Polish Veterans Association (SPPW)
Published in DT 07/06/2019

Brexit and populist European Parliament is on Putin's agenda

·
Letter published in The Guardian today. (28/05/2019)
Dear Sirs,
One important factor only hinted at in Jon Henley's analysis on "the end of cosy consensus" for the centrist groupings in the European Parliament ("The Guardian" 27th May 19) is Russia's continued success in driving forward its agenda of weakening of the European Union and other Western institutions by its support of Eurosceptic parties such as Le Pen's National Rally, Alternative fur Deutschland, the Danish People's Party, the Italian Liga and the Brexit Party all of whom improved their vote in the European Parliament. Indeed the resulting Brexitization of the Conservative Party has made the UK's no deal departure from the European Union in October that much more likely. It will also suit President Trump with his hostility to the EU, but then surely he is himself already part of President Putin's agenda?
Yours faithfully,
Wiktor Moszczynski

This is the real message of the Brexit Party

How to challenge Farage and his flag waving admirers.

Brexit No Deal supporters are:
1/ helping to break up the United Kingdom
2/ enabling a return to sectarian violence in Ireland
3/ stooges of Putin's plans to disrupt the EU and the Western alliance
4/ undermining the only effective body to challenge the U.S. internet barons whose social media threatens our children
5/ leaving us vulnerable to Trump's aggressive trade demands
6/ decimating NHS staff levels
7/ depriving our farms of workers
8/ undermining effective legislation against climate change and rising sea levels
9/ threatening British workers' rights
10/ ensuring massive rise in food prices.
We want a safer united Britain. Ask for a confirmatory referendum for any deal with EU.

Federation of Poles letter to Prime Minister on Brexit no deal scenario

The Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP,
Prime Minister,
10 Downing Street,
London SW1A 2AA
27/07/2018
Dear Mrs. May,
The Federation, that has represented the Polish diaspora in the United Kingdom since its inception in 1946, as an NGO and now a charity, feels compelled to appeal to you directly on behalf of its 53 member organisations and the Polish people that they represent, regarding the recent turn in Brexit negotiations which emphasises the possibility of the “no deal” scenario.
The million plus Poles in the UK, representing a good third of the EU citizens currently living here, have nervously studied the developing Brexit situation since the referendum with growing trepidation due to its impact on their situation and status. They feel that they were overlooked and not involved in discussions which were to decide their future in the UK.
The Federation has noticed a general developing uneasiness, in particular, among the parents of the 200,000 or so children currently in education in the UK. This uncertainty could easily be alleviated, at a stroke, by a commitment to those Poles currently residing in the British Isles, ideally, by ring-fencing the status provisions in the draft Withdrawal Agreement.
The Federation notes that you have now taken the lead in the discussions with the remaining 27 countries in the EU and hopes that a good Brexit deal will be negotiated for the benefit of all the people living in the UK.
Yours sincerely
Taduesz K Stenzel
Chair of Trustees

Concerned UK Poles call for ring-fencing of their rights - Press Statement

This week the Federation of Poles in Great Britain sent a letter (attached) to the Prime Minister expressing concern over a Brexit “no deal” scenario and calling for safeguarding the rights already negotiated in the draft Withdrawal Agreement through parliamentary legislation.

There are nearly one million Polish citizens currently living in the UK following the accession of Poland to the European Union in 2004. Overwhelmingly these Polish citizens are UK taxpayers, making a substantial contribution to the British economy and to British society. This figure includes up to 200,000 Polish children, mostly born in the UK.


Poles make up one third of the total population of EU citizens in this country. The Brexit referendum in June 2016 undermined the secure future of Polish and other EU citizens in this country, even if they had earlier obtained permanent residence. As a result of prolonged negotiations between the UK and the EU, Polish citizens and their families were told by the Home Office that they had to reapply for their right to stay and work in the UK. They would be eligible for settled status if they had worked here for five years and pre-settled status if it was less. These applications would have to be submitted between Brexit day on March 29th 2019 and 30th July 2021 to enable these citizens to stay.


However, even this new lesser status would be made null and void if the current fears of a "no deal" scenario in March next year become reality due to a breakdown in negotiations. Would Poles still have the right to work? Would they still have access to the NHS? Would Polish children still have the right to attend school?


Consequently, the Federation of Poles, speaking on behalf of Poles in the UK, is urging the Prime Minister to commit her government to ring-fencing the rights of all EU citizens that have already been agreed and included in the draft Withdrawal Agreement and to do it before Brexit Day 29th March 2019 in case the “no deal” scenario looks inevitable.


The Federation of Poles in Great Britain is the most representative organisation of the Polish diaspora in this country. It was founded in 1946 as an umbrella organization to promote Polish culture and to represent the voice of all the major post-war Polish social, cultural and educational organizations in the UK and today it has 53 member-organizations, including the Polish Social and Cultural Association and the Polish Education Society. It currently has the status of a charitable incorporated organization (CIO).


“Hard working Polish families in the UK have been deeply anxious about their fate following the Brexit referendum but also they have been patient and trusting that the British government would keep to its promises that all EU citizens be allowed to stay. Now with the possibility of there being 'no deal, the Government must make that commitment a reality”, says Wiktor Moszczynski, author of "Hello, I'm Your Polish Neighbour" and also a Federation trustee.


For further information please contact Chair of Trustees, Tadeusz Stenzel tel. 01664 565200 – tadstenzel@gmail.com,

or Wiktor Moszczynski tel. 07786471833 – wikmos@gmail.com




Issued on behalf of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain C.I.O. 240 King Street, London W6 0RF Web: www.zpwb.org.uk, ,