In case you’re not already convinced:

Iraqi interpreters working for the British Army have been advised to leave Basra or be killed.

The warning was issued by a leading member of the city’s security forces after militiamen attacked and destroyed the home of one interpreter and narrowly failed to kidnap another. There were unconfirmed reports yesterday that a third had been killed.

‘All the interpreters have to leave Basra because these militia will never let them rest. They will kill everybody they know [who worked for the British],” Colonel Saleem Agaa Alzabon, who leads Basra’s special forces, said. ‘The interpreters have to leave. They have no choice’

Colonel Saleem and the two targeted interpreters told The Times that the militiamen – almost certainly members of the Shia al-Mahdi Army – had stepped up their pursuit of so-called collaborators since the British withdrew from Basra city 11 days ago.

We have a moral responsibility towards these people and every right to expect that the UK Government will discharge that responsibility on our behalf

If you’d like to help, try the following:

1. Watch the video.
2. Write to your MP. Ask them to refer your concerns to the Home Office, Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence. Invite your MP to the meeting at Parliament on October 9.
3. Let us know in the comments if you get a response.
4. Join the list of supporters.
5. Spread the word. If you have a blog, why not help yourself to a blog banner?
6. Keep up with latest on the Iraqi employees’ plight with Google News Alerts.
7. Sign the petition.

Do the right thing here, Gordon – you know you should. It’s the British thing to do.

I’m really not sure quite what to make of the case in Waltham Forest in which Miranda Grell is currently awaiting a verdict on two counts of making false statements about an opponent, a sitting Lib Dem councillor and cabinet member, during the course of the 2006 local election campaign, in which Grell unseated the councillor in question, Barry Smith, is what has… - Continue Reading...