Greens reject pre-election tax cut bribes and call for action to meet the needs of people and planet

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Image of the Green Party's Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.
Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.

Reacting to the Autumn Statement announcement, Green co-leader Carla Denyer said: 

“The government has chosen headline-grabbing pre-election tax cut bribes over doing their job properly – providing good public services and protecting citizens from harm caused by the cost-of-living crisis and the climate crisis. 

“Indeed, this was a particularly cruel statement for the long-term sick and some disabled people who will now be forced into work or lose their benefits.  

“People won’t be fooled by a few extra quid in their pay packet when they can’t get a dentist, the wait to see the GP is getting ever longer, and the impacts of the climate crisis are becoming ever more obvious and close to home. 

“The government is fishing for a day’s worth of General Election friendly headlines at high long-term costs to public services, people’s quality of life and the environment. 

“The country cannot afford pre-election tax cut bribes from this failed Tory government. They mean postponing, yet again, the action we need to tackle the climate crisis – action that would create new, secure, well-paid green jobs.  

“Living in a decent society means investing in public services that meet the needs of people and planet. We can afford better public services. We can protect the environment and the most vulnerable in society, keep people warm and lift people out of poverty.  

“With more Green MPs in Parliament after the next General Election, we would rebalance the tax system so that the super-rich pay their fair share and use the money to mend the NHS, invest in preventative public health services, support those in greatest need, and boost the transition to a greener economy and all the benefits that will bring.” 

Continue ReadingGreens reject pre-election tax cut bribes and call for action to meet the needs of people and planet

Millions of households’ face fuel poverty as government support scheme ends, warns charity

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/07/millions-of-households-face-fuel-poverty-as-government-support-scheme-ends-warns-charity/

‘Without more support too many will continue to rack up unmanageable debts or try and survive in unheated homes causing ill health, misery, and avoidable death.’

Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

The National Energy Action (NAE), which works to provide support to those who cannot afford to heat their home, says around 6.6 million households across Britain will be in fuel poverty. The charity warns that despite cost-of-living payments for households on mean-tested benefits, vulnerable families will not receive any government support.

The charity cautions that households who aren’t on qualifying benefits – or aren’t on benefits at all – will miss out. This may include people who are severely in debt, those on low incomes who need to spend more energy at home due their disability or the inefficiency of their homes, unpaid carers, households on low incomes who have seen a drop in their incomes due to a recent bereavement, or households that, until this year, were eligible for wider assistance from programmes like the Warm Home Discount but are now no longer able to access energy rebates. 

Adam Scorer, chief executive of the NEA, warns that despite retail prices falling from July, many of the people the charity helps are still struggling. Scorer notes how two-thirds of households across Britain will no longer benefit from any assistance to offset the impacts of the energy crisis and Ofgem’s price cap will offer ‘limited protection to these households.’

“Millions of vulnerable people miss out on cost-of-living payments as they aren’t on the right benefits or no benefits at all. These people need additional help but are being left to manage bills that are still on average over £1,000 per year more expensive compared to the start of the crisis,” said Scorer.

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/07/millions-of-households-face-fuel-poverty-as-government-support-scheme-ends-warns-charity/

Continue ReadingMillions of households’ face fuel poverty as government support scheme ends, warns charity

News review

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Universal Credit claimants ‘existing, not living’, says report

Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

The Existing, not Living report, commissioned by Scotland’s largest social landlord, the Wheatley Group, spoke to tenants around the country to look at the impact of the social security system on their lives.

The research showed that 65 per cent of claimants believed that UC payment failed to give them enough money to cover the basics of life.

One tenant said of her situation: “Trying to live on £243 per month, that’s horrible.

“I’m expected to pay my council tax, gas and electricity, pay debt and rent arrears.

“It’s physically impossible to pay for all that and, of course, also your internet or some kind of mobile phone with internet, which you need to have if on UC.”

Universal Credit claimants ‘existing, not living’, says report

Unions unite to fight social care privatisation in West Lothian

THREE major unions will be launching a joint campaign to halt social care privatisation in West Lothian, they announced over the weekend.

Following the integration of health and social care in Scotland in 2014, local integration joint boards (IJBs) have run social care, with council social work departments relegated to the status of “contractor.”

The boards are made up of health board members and local councillors.

West Lothian IJB, which operates in a locale with the fastest-growing elderly population in Scotland, is considering forcing the privatisation of four care homes for the elderly, according to the Unite, GMB and Unison unions.

Unions unite to fight social care privatisation in West Lothian

Revealed: Government to legalise ‘hazardous’ accommodation for asylum seekers

The government has quietly published plans to effectively legalise “hazardous” accommodation for thousands of asylum seekers in England.

In a move labelled “shameful” and an “assault on human rights” by housing and refugee charities, a new draft law proposes removing landlords’ obligation to get a HMO (house in multiple occupation) licence if they are providing accommodation to vulnerable asylum seekers.

Campaigners say HMO licences are the primary way authorities currently ensure homes filled with large numbers of people they were not initially designed to fit do not become a major fire risk. They are normally required for all private rented properties that house five or more people from multiple households and are granted by councils if inspectors are satisfied that the building meets government guidelines, including that it isn’t dangerously overcrowded, in disrepair, damp or mouldy.

Revealed: Government to legalise ‘hazardous’ accommodation for asylum seekers

BP accused of ‘grotesque profiteering’ following bumper profits of £4bn in first three months of the year

Extinction Rebellion protests at BP
Extinction Rebellion protests at BP

OIL and gas giants were accused of “grotesque profiteering” today after BP reported that it had raked in an eye-watering £4 billion in just three months.

The mammoth profit total for the first quarter of 2023 was down from the near £5bn the energy firm pocketed in the same period last year following Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

But the combined profits of both BP and Shell have now hit a whopping £55bn over the last year as gas and electricity bills have more than doubled for Britons already struggling with 40-year high inflation and plummeting take-home pay.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “BP’s grotesque profiteering is continuing at pace.

“Profiteering is a blight on the economy which is driving prices higher, leaving workers poorer while businesses struggle to keep the lights on.”

BP accused of ‘grotesque profiteering’ following bumper profits of £4bn in first three months of the year

Unison to challenge the government’s new strike-breaking laws in the High Court

UNISON is challenging the Tory government’s latest attack on the right to strike in a two-day High Court hearing starting on Wednesday.

The public-sector union’s case was prompted by then prime minister Boris Johnson’s decision to scrap decades-old regulations preventing bosses from employing agency workers to break industrial action.

Last July’s widely condemned action was “unlawful and violates fundamental trade union rights,” Unison argued.

General secretary Christina McAnea said: “Breaking strikes with unqualified and ill-experienced agency workers doesn’t address the root causes of why people are striking and it only puts the public in danger.”

Unison to challenge the government’s new strike-breaking laws in the High Court

TUC marks 90 years since Nazis banned trade unions

THE TUC is calling today for solidarity in defence of democracy and against racism and extremism to mark the day 90 years ago that trade unions were banned in Nazi Germany.

Union offices were raided and officials and activists rounded up on May 2 1933; some were tortured and some died in concentration camps in the years that followed.

Independent trade unions were replaced with the Nazi-controlled German Labour Front, a propaganda tool for the regime and its hate-filled anti-semitic ideology.

“Trade unions are a bastion of democracy and freedom against authoritarian and violent regimes,” said the TUC, which is providing training and resources for union activists to counter racism, including anti-semitism, and attempts by the far right to recruit in workplaces.

Persecution of trade unionists continues around the world, the union body said.

TUC marks 90 years since Nazis banned trade unions

Exact number of Brits turned away at polling stations due to Voter ID will NEVER be known

The Electoral Commission has admitted it will ‘not be possible to accurately quantify’ the impact of the new rules by counting who does or doesn’t have ID at the ballot box

The number of people turned away at polling stations because they do not have Voter ID will never be known, the elections watchdog has admitted.

People will be required to show photographic ID for the first time at polling stations on Thursday.

But the Electoral Commission has admitted it will “not be possible to accurately quantify” the impact of the new rules by counting who does or doesn’t have ID at the ballot box.

Exact number of Brits turned away at polling stations due to Voter ID will NEVER be known

Oil majors’ expansion plans pay little heed to net zero

Data reveals the world’s leading oil and gas majors continue risk-laden, global expansion, despite net-zero pledges.

Analysis of exclusive fields data from GlobalData, Energy Monitor’s parent company, shows that the world’s five largest Western oil majors by revenue – BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies – are planning for a future misaligned with a net-zero pathway, as outlined by the IEA. 

The findings come despite the fact that all five companies have pledged on paper to reach net zero by 2050, and they are all based in countries that hold similar pledges on a national level. The findings also come on top of an earlier Energy Monitor investigation, which found that the oil and gas extraction plans of just 25 oil majors will produce carbon emissions that use up 90% of the world’s remaining 1.5°C carbon budget.

In the case of the five Western oil majors, the first key net-zero misalignment is the sheer size of the companies’ expansion plans. Rather than entering the period of managed decline that the IEA recommends should occur to be aligned with net zero by 2050, data shows that the five companies are in the process of developing 157 new fields, on top of the 1,350 they already operate. These upcoming fields would add a massive 122 billion barrels of oil equivalent (bboe) to the 299 bboe remaining in the five companies’ already-operating fields. 

Oil majors’ expansion plans pay little heed to net zero

Moment motorist drives through Just Stop Oil protesters blocking road

A motorist drove through Just Stop Oil protesters blocking a road in north London on Tuesday morning (2 May), colliding with a person.

“It went over my foot,” a member of the group can be heard saying.

The demonstration was part of Just Stop Oil’s vow to march every weekday and on Saturdays from 24 April to call on the government to stop licensing any new fossil fuel projects in the UK.

Moment motorist drives through Just Stop Oil protesters blocking road

Just Stop Oil responds after driver ‘runs over woman’ during protest

The car wasn't hanging around for Just Stop Oil's protest. Credit: Twitter/Just Stop Oil
The car wasn’t hanging around for Just Stop Oil’s protest. Credit: Twitter/Just Stop Oil

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police told LADbible: “Police are appealing for witnesses and dash cam footage after a person was involved in a collision with a vehicle on Holloway Road, Islington, whilst engaged in a protest, at around 10:00hrs, today Tuesday 2 May.

“The incident was brought to police attention after being circulated on social media and shows the person being involved in collision with a grey Renault Megane.

“If you were the person or have any information about the incident please report by calling 101, tweeting @MetCC or online at www.met.police.uk/.”

After the footage went viral, Just Stop Oil shared the video and commented how they believe that ‘inflammatory language’ from politicians and commentators has caused this end result.

The group tweeted: “After weeks of inflammatory language from politicians and right-wing media personalities, a car has finally rammed into a peaceful protest.

“Are you about to comment ‘Good!’ or ‘Stay out of the road?’

“Are you sure that the side you want to pick is the side of violence, of the repression of protest?

“What we do now determines the fate of humanity.

Just Stop Oil responds after driver ‘runs over woman’ during protest

Global ocean temperatures spike to record levels as El Niño nears

Since mid-March, the world’s oceans have been hotter than at anytime since at least 1982, raising concerns among some climate experts about accelerated warming.

Why it matters: Hotter oceans are hugely consequential for land areas, since they can contribute to more frequent and severe extreme weather and climate events, from deluges to heat waves.

  • In addition, the temperature spike could be a sign that warming is speeding up in ways that climate models failed to anticipate.

Global ocean temperatures spike to record levels as El Niño nears

Global warming is to blame for devastating East Africa drought, scientists believe

The devastating drought tearing through the Horn of Africa would not have happened if it wasn’t for human-driven climate change.

The region has been left completely devoid of water – forcing desperate families to dig several metres into arid river beds to find a trickle – after months of failed rainy seasons delivered the worst drought in 40 years.

The situation has also driven conflict, with more than four million people now in need of humanitarian aid.

A cohort of 19 researchers from seven countries studied if climate change was to blame, ruling that the longer rainy season has become drier, while the short rainy season has become wetter all due to changes in global temperatures.

They branded the drought “one of a kind”, adding that climtae change had made agricultural drought one hundred times more likely.

Global warming is to blame for devastating East Africa drought, scientists believe

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Appeal against the bedroom tax!

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There’s a judgement that says a bedroom is a room furnished as a bedroom or used to sleep in. All bedroom tax decisions can be appealed. Time is running out to appeal.

The Bedroom Tax is Dead here’s why | SPeye Joe (Welfarewrites)

Bedroom Tax – Finally Killed by Plain Old Common-Sense?

The effect of this outbreak of common-sense is that, potentially, any or all of the original Bedroom Tax decisions taking effect last April are wrong – as councils cannot have known the actual situation and were making decisions based on an assumption that the rooms concerned were bedrooms. What’s more, despite the time elapsed since then, these decisions are still appealable – appeals can be accepted up to thirteen months after the date of the original decision. This clearly makes it important to act quickly. Anyone in any doubt about the correctness of their Bedroom Tax decision should write to the local authority decision-maker and seek an appeal in their own individual case. But this must be done soon – it will probably be too late by April.

The implications of this legal development may even go so far as to invalidate all of the decisions. If a room isn’t habitually used as a bedroom, it may fall outwith the normal everyday definition of the word – and therefore beyond the scope of the legislation as it stands. Technically, in order to assess whether a particular room qualifies as a “bedroom”, the local authority would have to go out and inspect it. In practice, this would be a task on a scale made impossible by limitations on resources. But unless a property has been thus assessed, then no decision can properly be made.

 

Continue ReadingAppeal against the bedroom tax!

UK politics

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Recent UK politics articles and one about abuse in Florida.

“I want to use this election to raise awareness of the imminent danger posed to the NHS by the EU/US trade agreement which will allow American companies to carve up the NHS and make the privatisation process irreversible.

“I also want to alert the public to the gravity of the threat to the NHS from this government with its programme of cuts, hospital closures and privatisation and to send a powerful message to politicians in Westminster and Brussels that people will not stand by and let their NHS be destroyed.

“If elected, I will strive to ensure that EU regulations don’t adversely affect the NHS and are always in the best interests of the health of British people. The health of the nation spans all areas of policy from the environment to the economy”.

 

 

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UK politics

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A few recent UK (& other) politics articles

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