Opinion: Democrats can learn from workers’ big win against Amazon


By James Downie

Digital opinions editor

WASHINGTON POST
Today 

“Hand-wringing is part of the Democratic DNA,” former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. This year, there’s good reason for the wringing, too. But as President Biden figures out how best to approach the months before the midterms, his administration should look to the labor movement’s growing successes — most recently with Amazon workers in Staten Island — as a model of how to stop worrying and start winning.


Democrats who hoped that the strong monthly job numbers and the war in Ukraine would buoy Biden’s poll numbers have been thoroughly disappointed. After a brief rise in early March, the president’s approval rating sits at a lowly 41 percent in the RealClearPolitics average. The party’s chances of holding the Senate rest on a knife edge at best, and the prospects of a Democratic House next year grow dimmer by the day.

“I’m not quite sure what the disconnect is between the accomplishments,” Clinton told NBC’s Chuck Todd, “… and some of the polling.” But the answer is clear: In a new Harvard CAPS-Harris poll, the top two issues for Americans were inflation (32 percent) and the economy (27 percent). Bloomberg economists estimate that inflation will cost households an extra $5,200 this year. And as I noted last fall, though the administration may be proud of its achievements, many Democrats and most independents think Biden has accomplished little as president.

How to address these two weaknesses? A president’s inflation-fighting powers are limited, but liberal Democrats have pitched dozens of executive actions Biden can take to lower costs for Americans, such as tackling prescription drug prices or canceling student loan debt.

More moderate Democrats, on the other hand, are counseling Biden to reject that route. “It’s important that we legislate if we want long-term, durable policy,” Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), chair of the New Democrat Coalition, told “Fox News Sunday.” Rather than the kaleidoscope of ideas progressives put forward, DelBene suggested focusing on passing “a bipartisan innovation bill to address supply chains and competition” and the remains of last year’s failed budget reconciliation package.

Powerful voices in the party are making similar arguments for the status quo. “I’m well aware that midterms are obviously always difficult for the party in power,” Clinton told NBC’s Todd. “But we’ve got a great story to tell. … And for those who, you know, say it hasn’t gone far enough, that’s always the chorus in Democratic Party politics.”

Which brings us to those Amazon workers who voted Friday to unionize the company’s Staten Island warehouse — a first for employees at the company. (A separate unionization vote at the company’s Bessemer, Ala., warehouse remains too close to call.) When the union drive began, Amazon Labor Union founder Chris Smalls told Labor Notes’s Luis Feliz Leon, there were just four members on the organizing committee. They prevailed over one of the world’s largest companies and consultants who were being paid $3,200 a day. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Post.)

The activists won by following what organizing committee member Justine Medina called the “classic playbook” for organizing: “Do not be afraid to fight, to get as dirty as the bosses will, to match or beat the energy they’re bringing. Do not be afraid to agitate and to antagonize the bosses, as a union should. Use every tool in your toolbox.”

Like those Amazon workers, Democrats cannot be afraid to fight. Just because a handful of moderate holdouts have derailed key parts of Biden’s legislative agenda doesn’t mean the struggle is over. While a president has no boss to “antagonize,” Democrats can take on other people’s bosses — both proverbial and literal. Building on the president’s “billionaire minimum income tax” with executive actions to lower drug prices, strengthen overtime, boost worker protections and tackle student debt will provide immediate relief to millions and reinvigorate unmotivated voters.

As for using the whole toolbox, DelBene is right that legislation is more durable than executive action. But when attempted legislative fixes aren’t passing at all, executive orders can provide real relief, even if it’s temporary. And if Republicans want to run on raising the cost of insulin or preserving fossil fuel subsidies while oil companies profit from sky-high gas prices, more power to them.

In an interview last year with Jacobin’s Alex Press, Smalls said, “I’m using a lot of the principles that I learned at Amazon, against them. My favorite one is: ‘have a backbone and commit.’ … I had a backbone, I stood up for what I thought was right, and I’m committing to seeing change.”


Voters reward politicians who they believe will stand for principles. The Democrats’ road to the midterms might run uphill, but their best chance of pulling off the upset is to fight from now until Election Day


Opinion by James Downie

James Downie is The Washington Post’s Digital Opinions Editor. He previously wrote for The New Republic and Foreign Policy magazine. Twitter

ANTI-LGBTQ REFERENDUM FAILS
Hungary PM Viktor Orban wins fourth term in office

Nationalist Hungarian PM Viktor Orban's Fidesz party won a fourth term in office, after a campaign overshadowed by the war in the neighbouring Ukraine.

Agence France-Presse

Budapest April 4, 2022

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban voted at a school in a Budapest suburb and said he was expecting a 'great victory' . (Photo: AFP)

Official results from Hungary's general election on Sunday showed nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party had won a fourth term in office by a much greater margin than pre-election polls had suggested, after a campaign overshadowed by the war in neighbouring Ukraine.

Addressing a jubilant crowd chanting his name, many of them wearing Fidesz's orange party colour, Orban said: "We have won a great victory -- a victory so great you can perhaps see it from the moon and certainly from Brussels".

Orban's administration has presided over repeated confrontations with the European Union, including over the neutering of the press and judiciary, and measures targeting the LGBTQ community -- also the subject of a vote on Sunday.

The 58-year-old, already the longest-serving head of government in the EU, was challenged by six united opposition parties seeking to roll back the "illiberal" revolution Orban's Fidesz party has pursued during 12 consecutive years in office.

But with 94 percent of votes counted, Fidesz was on 53 percent compared to 35 percent for the opposition coalition, according to results from the national election office -- a result which means the party will retain its two-thirds majority in parliament.

Peter Marki-Zay, 49, the conservative leading the opposition list, addressed supporters and conceded defeat late on Sunday evening.

"I will not hide my sadness and my disappointment," he told them, combatively accusing Fidesz of running a campaign of "hate and lies".

He added that the opposition had done "everything humanly possible" but that the campaign had been "an unequal fight" given the way in which he and other anti-Fidesz politicians had been all but banished from state media.

MEP Marton Gyongyosi from the right-wing Jobbik party which is part of the opposition coalition, told AFP that "abuses" had taken place on Sunday and added: "This will have to be considered when talking about how the results of the elections can be respected".

Orban has dismissed such complaints and insisted the vote was fair.

For the first time more than 200 international observers monitored the election in Hungary, an EU member, along with thousands of domestic volunteers from both camps.

Turnout reached 68.69 percent, almost matching the record participation seen at the last national elections in 2018.

The far-right Mi Hazank party also surpassed expectations and will make its debut in parliament after crossing the five-percent minimum threshold.

- 'Ruined the country' -

Budapest resident Agnes Kunyik, 56, told AFP she had backed the opposition.

"They have ruined our country, destroyed it," she said of Fidesz, becoming visibly emotional.

But one of those who had turned out for Orban's victory celebration, 55-year-old Ildiko Horvath, said that under Fidesz "Hungary is really going forwards," adding: "On the really important questions like the (Ukraine) war and migrants he always decides in line with what the majority wants."

Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine cast a long shadow over the campaign.

Diplomatically, Orban fell into line with EU support for Kyiv despite his long-standing closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But at home, Orban has struck a neutral and even anti-Ukrainian tone at times, refusing to let weapons for Ukraine cross Hungarian territory.

He cast himself as the protector of stability and accused the opposition of "warmongering".

In his victory speech Orban said: "We never had so many opponents," reeling off a list that comprised "Brussels bureaucrats... the international mainstream media, and finally the Ukrainian president".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has singled Orban out for criticism over his reticence to take a tougher stance against Russia.

French and Italian far-right leaders Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini were quick to offer their congratulations on Sunday.

Le Pen, herself gathering momentum in polls before the first round of presidential elections in France next week, posted a picture of herself shaking hands with Orban and the caption: "When the people vote, the people win!"

As well as electing MPs, Hungarians were voting in a referendum designed to elicit support for what Fidesz calls a "child protection" law banning the portrayal of LGBTQ people to under-18s.

Budapest resident Regina, 25 -- who refused to give her surname -- told AFP she had spoiled her ballot in the "twisted" referendum which she said had portrayed LGBTQ Hungarians as an "enemy".

Partial results showed the referendum had failed as not enough valid votes had been cast.

ELECTORAL FASCISM
Hungary's Viktor Orban claims a 4th term, extending his autocratic rule

By The Associated Press
Published April 3, 2022 

Hungary's nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, center, and his wife Aniko Levai, left, cast their vote for general election in Budapest, Hungary, on Sunday.


Updated April 3, 2022 at 6:10 PM ET

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared victory in Sunday's national elections, claiming a mandate for a fourth term as a partial vote count predicted a strong lead for his right-wing party.

In a 10-minute speech to Fidesz party officials and supporters at an election night event in Budapest, Orban addressed a crowd cheering "Viktor!" and declared it was a "huge victory" for his party.

"We won a victory so big that you can see it from the moon, and you can certainly see it from Brussels," said Orban, who has often been condemned by the European Union for democratic backsliding and alleged corruption.

"The whole world has seen tonight in Budapest that Christian democratic politics, conservative civic politics and patriotic politics have won. We are telling Europe that this is not the past, this is the future," Orban said.

While votes were still being tallied, it appeared clear that the question was not whether Orban's Fidesz party would take the election, but by how much.

With 75% of votes tallied, Orban's Fidesz-led coalition had won 54.5%, while a pro-European opposition coalition, United for Hungary, had nearly 34%, according to the National Election Office.

It appeared possible that Fidesz would win another constitutional majority, allowing it to keep making deep changes to the Central European nation.

Opposition parties had united against Orban

As Fidesz party officials gathered at an election night event on the Danube river in Budapest, state secretary Zoltan Kovacs pointed to the participation of so many parties in the election as a testament to the strength of Hungary's democracy.

"We have heard a lot of nonsense recently about whether there is democracy in Hungary," Kovacs said. "Hungarian democracy in the last 12 years has not weakened, but been strengthened."

The contest was expected to be the closest since Orban took power in 2010, thanks to Hungary's six main opposition parties putting aside their ideological differences to form a united front against Fidesz. Voters were electing lawmakers to the country's 199-seat parliament.

Yet even in his home district, opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay trailed the longtime Fidesz incumbent Janos Lazar by more than 11 points, with 74% of the votes counted there. It was a discouraging sign for the prime ministerial candidate who had promised to end to what he alleges is rampant government corruption and raise living standards by increasing funding to Hungary's ailing health care and schools.

Anna Szilagyi / AP
Opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay, center left, and others vote in Sunday's general election.

In a surprise performance, radical right-wing party Our Homeland Movement appeared to have garnered more than 6% of the vote, exceeding the 5% threshold needed to gain seats in parliament.

Opposition parties and international observers have noted structural impediments to defeating Orban, highlighting pervasive pro-government bias in the public media, the domination of commercial news outlets by Orban allies and a heavily gerrymandered electoral map.

Edit Zgut, a political scientist at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, predicted that what appeared to be a clear victory for Orban would allow him to move further in an autocratic direction, sidelining dissidents and capturing new areas of the economy.

"Hungary seems to have reached a point of no return," she said. "The key lesson is that the playing field is tilted so much that it became almost impossible to replace Fidesz in elections."

The opposition coalition, United For Hungary, asked voters to support a new political culture based on pluralistic governance and mended alliances with the country's EU and NATO allies.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine was an issue in Hungary's election

While Orban had earlier campaigned on divisive social and cultural issues, he dramatically shifted the tone of his campaign after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, and has portrayed the election since then as a choice between peace and stability or war and chaos.

While the opposition called for Hungary to support its embattled neighbor and act in lockstep with its EU and NATO partners, Orban, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has insisted that Hungary remain neutral and maintain its close economic ties with Moscow, including continuing to import Russian gas and oil on favorable terms.

At his final campaign rally Friday, Orban claimed that supplying Ukraine with weapons — something that Hungary, alone among Ukraine's EU neighbors, has refused to do — would make the country a military target, and that sanctioning Russian energy imports would cripple Hungary's own economy.

"This isn't our war, we have to stay out of it," Orban said.

The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Saturday depicted the Hungarian leader as out of touch with the rest of Europe, which has united to condemn Putin, support sanctions against Russia and send aid including weapons to Ukraine.

"He is virtually the only one in Europe to openly support Mr. Putin," Zelenskyy said.

After voting in his hometown of Hodmezovasarhely, where he is mayor, Marki-Zay called Sunday's election an "uphill battle" due to Fidesz's superior economic resources and advantage in the media.

"We are fighting for decency, we are fighting for the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in Hungary," Marki-Zay said. "We want to show that this model that Orban has ... introduced here in Hungary is not acceptable for any decent, honest man."

Marki-Zay later wrote on social media to thank all Hungarians who cast a vote and the more than 20,000 volunteer ballot counters who opposition parties assigned to polling places across the country.

"I express my gratitude to the civilians who spent the whole day checking the cleanliness of the election and are now starting the count," Marki-Zay wrote.

Orban — a fierce critic of immigration, LGBTQ rights and "EU bureaucrats" — has garnered the admiration of right-wing nationalists across Europe and North America. He has taken many of Hungary's democratic institutions under his control and depicted himself as a defender of European Christendom against Muslim migrants, progressives and the "LGBTQ lobby."

Along with the election to parliament, a referendum on LGBTQ issues was being held Sunday. The questions pertained to sex education programs in schools and the availability to children of information about sex reassignment.

The Organization For Security and Cooperation in Europe sent a full observation mission to Hungary to monitor Sunday's election, only the second time it has done so in a European Union country.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Serbia president Aleksandar Vučić claims election victory to secure second term

Vučić says he won 60% of the vote after campaign that promised stability amid war in Europe and Covid pandemic

Serbian leader Aleksandar Vučić declares victory in the presidential election in Belgrade on Sunday, securing a second term. 

Photograph: Darko Vojinović/AP


Agence France-Presse
Mon 4 Apr 2022

Serbia’s leader Aleksandar Vučić claimed a landslide victory in general elections on Sunday, paving the way for another term as president in the Balkan nation.

Official results were set to be announced late Monday but Vučić appeared confident in his commanding performance just hours after the polls closed, saying a run-off would not be needed.

“I am pleased that a huge number of people voted and showed the democratic nature of Serbian society,” Vučić announced during a televised victory speech, saying he secured roughly 60% of the vote.

“There was no suspense at any time,” he added.

The country of around seven million took to the polls to elect the president and members of the 250-seat parliament and cast votes in several municipal contests.

Surveys ahead of the polls predicted Vučić’s centre-right Serbian Progressive party (SNS) would maintain its control over the parliament, while the president would secure a second term.


Russians using Serbian loophole to avoid EU flights ban

“Personally, I see stable progress and I voted in accordance with this opinion,” Milovan Krstic, a 52-year-old government employee, told AFP after casting his vote in Belgrade.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cast a long shadow over the contest that observers had earlier predicted would focus on environmental issues, corruption and rights.

Vučić deftly used the return of war in Europe along with the coronavirus pandemic to his advantage, promising voters continued stability amid uncertain headwinds.

“The influence of the Ukrainian crisis on the election results was huge,” the president said in his victory speech.

Following Vučić’s speech, Serbia’s leading opposition candidate Zdravko Ponoš remained defiant.

“These elections are [the] beginning of the end of Aleksandar Vučić … we will not waste this,” said Ponoš.

Zdravko Ponoš, Serbia’s leading opposition candidate. 

Photograph: Zorana Jevtić/Reuters

In the capital Belgrade, the elections were briefly marred by scuffles between parliamentary candidate Pavle Grbović and supporters of Vučić’s SNS, along with scattered reports of small skirmishes and voter intimidation.

During his victory speech later, Vučić dismissed any allegations of foul play.

The country’s election commission predicted voter turnout would probably hover about 60%, nearly a 10-point jump from the last general elections in 2020.

Serbs from the former breakaway province of Kosovo also participated in the contest and boarded about 40 buses headed north to vote, after authorities in Pristina refused to allow polling stations on its soil.

Decade in power

Only a few months before the polls, the opposition seemed to have gained momentum.

In January, Vučić axed a controversial lithium mine project following mass protests that saw tens of thousands take to the streets.

The move was a rare defeat for Vučić, who has rotated through a range of positions, including prime minister, president and deputy premier along with a stint as the defence chief during a decade in power.

During the run-up to the elections, surveys predicted Vučić would win again on Sunday even as the opposition had hoped a high turnout could force a run-off.

Analysts, however, said the opposition had little chance of dethroning Vučić or eating away at his commanding parliamentary coalition, which holds a lion’s share of the seats.

The president has also carefully managed the country’s response to the war in Ukraine by officially condemning Russia at the United Nations but stopping short of sanctioning Moscow at home, where many Serbs hold a favourable view of the Kremlin.

The opposition in turn has largely refrained from attacking Vučić’s position on the conflict, fearing any call for harsher measures against Russia would backfire at the ballot box.

Vučić also headed into elections with a plethora of other advantages.

After a decade at the helm, he has increasingly tightened his grip over the various levers of power, including de facto control over much of the media and government services.

In the months leading up to the campaign, the president rolled out a range of financial aid offers to select groups, prompting critics to say he was trying to “buy” votes before the contest.

Serbian elections could improve chances for Rio Tinto’s lithium project

Cecilia Jamasmie | April 1, 2022 |

Jadarite is a mineral containing lithium and boron that was discovered by the Rio’s geologists in 2004. (Image courtesy of BHP.)

Rio Tinto (ASX, LON: RIO) might have a chance to see the licence for its $2.4 billion Jadar lithium project in Serbia reinstated if the country’s pro-mining president, Aleksandar Vučić, and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) win the elections this weekend, analysts believe.


The country heads to the polls on Sunday to vote for both president and parliament, with opinion surveys showing that Vučić is likely to win another five-year term and that the SNS is also set to win a majority.

An SNS victory is likely to deal a blow to the environmental movement blossoming in the country since September 2021, Capucine May, Europe Analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft said.

Over the past five months, green groups such as Ecological Uprising and Kreni Promeni have used high-profile mining projects — notably Rio Tinto’s Jadar lithium project – as rallying points for their cause, May said.

Protests gained momentum when the government attempted to reform the referendum and expropriation laws in November 2021, which activists saw as easing the way for foreign miners into the country.

“This gave environmental protests an anti-government element and proved to be a unifying force for the historically fragmented political opposition in Serbia,” the Verisk Maplecroft expert noted.

May believes Belgrade’s latest concessions, including pulling the plug on Jadar and leaving expropriation laws unchanged, were part of a political strategy to secure a win on April 3.

Thousands blocked major roads across Serbia in November to protest against two new laws that pave the way for foreign companies to mine the country’s resources. (Screenshot from: Sharjah24 News | YouTube.)

“Once re-elected, we expect the SNS will maintain its pro-mining stance,” May said. “The fact that the government has so far refused to consider a potential lithium mining ban in Serbia points in this direction.”

While rather unlikely, there is a chance the SNS will re-issue permits for Jadar, May noted, adding that locals have reported that Rio Tinto continues to buy land in the Western Serbian region, which is rich in jadarite. The new mineral containing lithium and boron was discovered by the Rio’s geologists in 2004.

Vučić’s critics say his popularity is due to his autocratic style of rule, which includes firm control of media and benefits such as employment in state-run firms that they say are reserved for his supporters.

The Verisk Maplecroft analyst believes Serbia’s governance reputation could be affected should Vučić reinstate Rio’s licence for the Jadar project. She predicts such move, while unlikely, would trigger a fresh wave of protests.
Battery ambitions

Rio Tinto had invested $450 million on pre-feasibility and other studies for Jadar as of January this year.

It has also spent years developing technology to economically extract lithium from jadarite and it even shipped a pilot lithium processing plant last year to Serbia in four 40-foot (12 m) shipping containers of equipment.

The Jadar lithium project was slated to be Europe’s biggest mine of the battery metal, with a production of 58,000 tonnes of refined battery-grade lithium carbonate per year, enough to power one million electric vehicles.

Over the past five years, the company has tried expanding its footprint in the battery market. In 2018, it reportedly attempted to buy a $5bn stake in Chile’s Chemical and Mining Society (SQM), the world’s second largest lithium producer.

In April 2021, the miner kicked off lithium production from waste rock at a demonstration plant located at a borates mine it controls in California.

Rio took another step into the lithium market this week, completing the acquisition of the Rincon lithium project in Argentina for $825 million, which has reserves of almost two million tonnes of contained lithium carbonate equivalent, sufficient for a 40-year mine life.

UK
Diane Abbott MP: This crisis of living standards is government made

Diane Abbott

31 March, 2022 
Left Foot Forward

'History suggests that political upheaval is very likely to follow. The Labour government of 1997, for example, was ushered in on the back of rising food prices.'

The current fall in living standards is not really a ‘cost of living crisis’ at all, implying as that does some kind of natural phenomenon. Just as in the Western economies in the 1970s and in Germany in the 1930s the surge in prices is a reflection of government policy.

We have a situation in which the Office for Budget Responsibility is forecasting prolonged and respectable rise in nominal wages over many years, but a fall in real household incomes after tax.

The discrepancy arises from two factors, both of which are the products of government (or governments’) policies. It is ministers who have made the decisions to renege on the pensions triple-lock, or to hit students with higher loan repayments, or to keep benefits and public sector pay below the rate of inflation.

These are policy choices made by the government. So too are the decisions to provide tax cuts for big business and banks, or to break government promises on the climate and cut the fuel duty. None of these have anything to do with Ukraine or global market conditions.

At the same time though, there is an upward pressure on oil and other commodities’ prices which long preceded the war. These pressures primarily reflect the catastrophic mismanagement of the pandemic by the richest major countries in the world, including in Britain.

Wall Street and City financiers talk about the ‘Great Resignation’ arising from the pandemic. In effect there were tens of millions of people put on lower pay, or no pay at all during the lockdown phases of the pandemic. In general, these enormous sacrifices were completely unnecessary and largely in vain, as Western governments could have made the financial support more generous (100% of pay) and more widely available (including the self-employed and casual workers) especially if they had committed to the lockdown policy until we had achieved maximum suppression of the virus.

They didn’t do that. One consequence is the bizarre outcome where we simultaneously have labour shortages, fewer people in work and falling pay. This is because it simply became not worthwhile for many to go to work. This is one of the key contributors to the ‘supply chain bottlenecks’ that are so widely discussed.

The economy relies on people. Ultimately, all services are about people. So ‘transport services’ require HGV drivers. If they are paid too little, or waiting too long at the ports because of the Brexit non-tariff barriers (checks on goods and paperwork), then many will quit. This scenario has been replicated in many countries across many sectors of the economy.

In addition, levels of investment plummeted over the last 2 years. In Britain, we have largely abandoned strategic energy storage, for example. When lockdowns ended there was a surge in global demand, without any spare capacity. This drove commodity prices higher.

It is the combination of these factors, government fiscal policy which transfers from poor to rich, the attack on wages and conditions in the pandemic and the refusal to invest which have caused the ‘cost of living’ crisis.

It is really the effects of government austerity policy. This was also the real content of the Spring Statement. As it follows more than a decade of austerity, the OBR is now forecasting the worst period for living standards on record. Literally tens of millions of people are going to be worse off.

History suggests that political upheaval is very likely to follow. The Labour government of 1997, for example, was ushered in on the back of rising food prices.

So, the key political question for the next period is indeed who can provide security for the population. But that will have to include financial security, and voters will judge harshly anyone who does not have a credible plan to end the misery.

Diane Abbott is the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington

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From crisis to catastrophe: Why the cost of living crisis will soon overshadow the pandemic

UK

Resistance builds against ‘government-made’ cost of living crisis

Thousands of people are coming together today, demanding the redistribution of wealth and power, decent wages for all, and justice for the sacked P&O workers.

Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead 

LEFT FOOT FORWARD

As Britain battles a cost-of-living crisis, with everything from energy bills to food skyrocketing, public outrage is mounting, with people are taking to the streets today to build a collective resistance.

Organised by the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, an organisation dedicated to ensuring the government faces a movement of opposition against cuts, austerity and privatisation, protests are taking place up and down the country under the banner ‘Cost of Living Crisis – We Can’t Pay.’

Today’s demonstrations are also in solidarity with the 800 P&O Ferries’ workers who were cruelly sacked for cheaper foreign labour last month.

People refuse to pay for the government’s crisis

A principal aim of the day of action is to send a clear message to the government that the people refuse to pay for their crisis.

The protests come just a day after the energy price gap was lifted by a staggering 54%, creating what has been described as an “impossible choice for many” – to heat or eat. A spokesperson for the People’s Assembly said: “Public outrage over the cost of living crisis is growing fast, and our response is gaining momentum.”

In London, protests are taking place outside Downing Street, where former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is speaking. Commenting on the impact of the escalating crisis, Corbyn said: “With rising fuel, food and energy bills, the soaring cost of living is pushing millions into poverty, and the disgusting treatment of the sacked P&O workers needs urgent action from the government.”

‘Intolerable’

Laura Pidcock, national secretary of the People’s Assembly, who is speaking at the protest in Liverpool, said: “What people are experiencing is intolerable. No matter how patiently we explain that government inaction over soaring energy and fuel costs and sharply rising food prices is deepening poverty, misery and hunger, it is met with at best indifference and at worse more of the same.”

“The truth is they are so wedded to the economic system we have, comfortable with a hands-off approach, that even when markets are obviously failing us, they continue with business as usual.

“We tell them about children going hungry and the government shrug, politically speaking. Our anger and frustration with them must be directed and organised to build pressure on them,” Pidcock continued.

Spring statement slammed by unions

The demonstrations follow Rishi Sunak’s spring statement which has been slammed by unions for doing nothing to allay fears about soaring energy bills and rising inflation. The statement did very little to help the poorest of households with the support they need as energy and food prices soar and was noted for its “complete disregard for the hardship facing millions of households.”

Instead of tackling the cost of living crisis, the chancellor has left the average family around £1,000 worse off than last year, equating to the biggest fall in living standards since records began.

Today’s protests, which come the day after what has been dubbed as ‘Bleak Friday’ and new estimates from the End Fuel Poverty Coalition warn 2.5 million households with children are in fuel poverty after the new energy price cap rise, are demanding “immediate relief” from the government.

Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward

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100 protesters take to the streets of Newcastle city centre as cost of living crisis deepens

Around 100 protesters joined the People's Assembly North East rally at Grey's Monument in the centre of Newcastle to campaign against the soaring cost of living and sacking of 800 P&O workers

By Jane Hall
2 APR 2022

Demonstrators have taken part in a People's Assembly North East protest in Newcastle against the cost of living crisis and the sacking of 800 P&O workers

(Image: Craig Connor/ChronicleLive)

Demonstrators have marched through Newcastle in protest at the UK's worsening cost of living crisis - with some pushed to voice their fear and anger in public for the first time.

Around 100 turned out for the People's Assembly North East organised demonstration to protest at the soaring cost of living as well as the shock sacking on March 17 of nearly 800 P&O crew without notice or consultation.

It was the third in a series of protests that have taken place across the UK since February coordinated by the national branch of the People's Assembly - which is fighting austerity, cuts and privatisation - and is supported by trade unions, community and campaign groups.

For some taking part in Saturday's lunchtime protest in Newcastle, it was their first experience of airing their grievances at a public gathering. They told The Chronicle they had been galvanised into action as the cost of living has soared, pushing people who would never once have struggled financially towards poverty.

Catherine Rooney, 62, from Sunderland, was one such first-time marcher who said she had felt compelled to make the trip from Wearside to Tyneside because "the Government isn't doing enough; they're not listening to the people."

Whilst not facing financial hardship herself, she said she felt morally she couldn't "sit back and do nothing. People need to show some solidarity. The time has come to stand up; people need to be writing to their MPs, to their councillors, and be doing what they can to say they don't agree with what is happening.

"The cost of living crisis isn't something that is going to affect me personally very deeply, but I feel we need to support each other, especially those with disabilities where they have CPAP (oxygen) machines, mobility and IT needs and things like that. All that uses electricity, and it's all going up and they aren't getting any help at all. I just think it's wrong."

Another lady who would only give her name as Gwen added: "What we have at the moment is a crisis, and it's not one affecting just the very poor. Energy prices went up by 54% on April 1. It's a staggering amount. That alone would push many people into financial hardship, but on top of that we're all paying more for food, fuel, council tax and our utility bills, as well as National Insurance.

"I work, I have savings and I'm hopefully going to be OK. But I know people who are on low wages who are finding it difficult to cope and are struggling. That is what has attracted me to this demonstration today - to show my support for them. The time has come when we all need to take a stand and to stop pretending that the cost of living crisis is someone else's problem. It's not. It's everyone's."

The Newcastle march wound its way in the early spring sunshine from the city's Civic Centre along a packed Northumberland Street to Grey's Monument - the traditional meeting place for protesters.

The People's Assembly North East protest against the cost of living crisis wound its way through a busy Newcastle city centre before converging on Grey's Monument

 (Image: Craig Connor/ChronicleLive)

It is no coincidence that most rallies - whether it be fighting for workers' rights, campaigning against climate change, or speaking out against the Government - converge on the monument, given it pays homage to the Northumberland born 19th Century politician, Charles Grey, whose biggest achievement was the passing of the much-opposed Reform Bill in 1832 which amongst others things abolished slavery in the British Empire.

The march mainly attracted positive support from shoppers on the 10 minute walk from the Civic Centre, with many expressing their concern at what the future is likely to hold, especially come next autumn when energy prices are likely to again rise to an unprecedented level.

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Organiser Tony Dowling of the People's Assembly North East said the cost of living traditionally affects people more in this region as wages tend to be lower. He said: "When your income and outgoings are finely balanced and energy goes up by 54% and your wages don't rise to match the increase in the cost of living, it puts people in a very scary position.

"The Government has done nothing to allay people's fears about the rising costs of energy and inflation in general."

In a speech read out to demonstrators on behalf of Durham City Labour MP Mary Foy who had been unable to attend the event in person, she said when the economy struggles and households are unable to meet the cost of living, "it's the duty of the Government to help lift the pressure of ordinary people."

She said the cost of living crisis is one of the biggest issues currently facing the people of this country. "Household and energy bills are out of control, the prices of petrol are skyrocketing and inflation is outstripping wages and welfare."

Protesters continue to block UK oil terminals despite more than 100 arrests

Just Stop Oil activists have been climbing on to tankers and glueing themselves to roads since Friday

Members of Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil protest at the Esso fuel terminal in Purfleet, Essex. 

Photograph: Martin Dalton/Rex/Shutterstock


Clea Skopeliti

THE GUARDIAN

Sat 2 Apr 2022

More than 100 people have been arrested as climate change protesters continued to block UK oil terminals as part of a campaign to disrupt the fossil fuel industry.

Supporters of Just Stop Oil began the action in the early hours of Friday morning at refineries near London, Birmingham and Southampton by climbing on to tankers and gluing themselves to roads.



Inside Just Stop Oil, the youth climate group blocking UK refineries

The activists continued to disrupt oil terminals on Saturday morning and said they had gained access to further sites.

Essex police said officers arrested a total of 83 people after protests in the Thurrock district.

The force said 63 were arrested on Friday following protests in Oliver Road, Grays, London Road, Purfleet, and Askew Farm Lane, Grays. Another 20 people were arrested on Saturday in Oliver Road and Stoneness Road, Grays.

Police said they were arrested on suspicion of a variety of offences. Officers are continuing to engage with protesters in Oliver Road, Stoneness Road and London Road.

Assistant chief constable Rachel Nolan said: “Our officers are continuing to work in exceptionally challenging circumstances with a view to bringing these protests to a safe and swift conclusion. I would like to thank businesses, local drivers and workers for their continued patience while we carry out our work.”

The group announced on social media that they had blocked Navigator terminals in Essex, posting photos of protesters in hi-vis jackets on top of a tanker and others blocking a road with a banner reading “Just Stop Oil”.

They said protesters had blocked access to the Titan Truck Park and revealed a secret underground network of tunnels leading to the site. The development means the main and emergency access roads to the critical oil terminals are closed.

“We need the government to stop funding new oil projects and we need it now! Our only means of highlighting this issue is mass civil resistance,” they said in a post on Instagram.

The group is demanding the government end the expansion of new oil and gas projects. Just Stop Oil said this week’s campaign was part of a transition from using tactics of civil disobedience to exercising civil resistance.

Explaining what this shift would look like, one supporter told the Guardian last month that it would mean “stopping pointing out what the government should or shouldn’t be doing [and instead] actively stopping government doing what they shouldn’t be”.

The campaign, which has involved protesters being glued to roads, suspended on bamboo tripods, and locked on to oil drums and each other, is taking place in defiance of a temporary high court injunction banning protests outside oil terminals.

Outside Kingsbury and on roads leading to the site, posters said: “Temporary high court injunction in force. Blocking, slowing down, obstructing or interfering with traffic on to this road as part of protest activity by Just Stop Oil, Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain movements and other connected movements is strictly prohibited. Failure to comply with the injunction may lead to imprisonment.”

As a result of the blockades, the oil pipeline distribution network ExxonMobil UK closed down three of its terminals. Police from at least five forces were deployed to deal with the protests, making arrests for offences including aggravated trespass, criminal damage and obstructing the highway.

The Metropolitan police arrested 14 activists who broke into a facility at Bedfont Road in Staines, Surrey, and West Midlands police arrested six people at a terminal in Tyburn, Birmingham.

Police said arrests were made for offences including aggravated trespass, criminal damage and obstructing the highway.

Fix energy-leaking homes and fund wind turbines to wean UK off Russian gas, Boris Johnson told

New analysis says ‘energy security starts at home’, as cabinet rows hold up PM’s ‘independence plan’

Rob Merrick
Deputy Political Editor
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Fixing energy-leaking homes and funding wind projects – not nuclear power stations – is key to weaning the UK off Russian gas, a new study says, amid cabinet clashes over policy.

Boris Johnson is pushing to get 25 per cent of the UK’s electricity from nuclear power – requiring up to six new power stations – at a cost that is alarming Rishi Sunak, the chancellor.

Meanwhile, cabinet rows over relaxing planning rules to lift the block on onshore wind turbines are also holding up a new energy strategy, prompted by the Ukraine crisis.

Now an analysis by the climate change think tank E3G says a strategy that “starts at home” is the route to reducing reliance on Vladimir Putin’s gas supplies.

Dramatically improving the energy efficiency of the UK’s buildings “could secure an 80 per cent cut in the amount of gas we import from Russia this year”, it is arguing.

If combined with government funding for solar and onshore wind projects already in the planning pipeline, “the UK could cut the amount of gas we get from Russia by 100 per cent within a year”.

“Energy security starts at home,” said Ed Matthew, E3G’s campaigns director, ahead of the expected release of the “energy independence plan” this week.

“By ramping up the energy efficiency of UK buildings and accelerating renewables deployment, the government can take an axe to UK gas demand.

“Not only can this help cut household bills, it is the single most effective action the government can take to protect UK and European energy security.”

E3G is pointing out that a war-torn Ukraine managed to “unplug from Russia’s electricity grid” within a fortnight, adding: “We should take inspiration from Ukraine’s power engineers.”

The government has made little effort to target home energy efficiency, after the shambolic failure of the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme.

Instead, Mr Johnson wants to focus on reviving nuclear power, with a mix of big plants and small modular reactors (SMRs), which are easier and cheaper to build.

However, the National Infrastructure Commission has warned that large nuclear power plants are “incredibly difficult to deliver on short timescales”.

Even if the government gave the go-ahead now, they would not come online until the mid-2040s if they took as long as the current Hinkley Point C project is expected to take.

The prime minister’s view on onshore wind is mired in confusion, after he appeared to come out against an expansion when speaking to MPs last week.

Despite that, the strategy is expected to trigger a review of the effective moratorium imposed by planning laws introduced under David Cameron’s government.

Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, has proposed doubling onshore wind turbine power from 14 gigawatts to 30GW by 2030, with the bulk of new projects in Scotland.

He is also said to be pushing for the government to go further to hit a target of 45GW of energy from offshore wind by 2035.

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Kwasi Kwarteng suggests UK could massively scale up nuclear power capacity by 2050

The move to scale up nuclear power production will reportedly form part of a major expansion of homegrown energy in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.

George McMillan

SENIOR DIGITAL PRODUCER
PUBLISHED Sunday 03 April 2022 

The UK could massively scale up its nuclear power capability by 2050 – with new stations having far greater capacity, it is understood.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has suggested six or seven new sites could be in operation by that point, with all but one of Britain’s existing plants set to be decommissioned by 2030.

While the number of stations is likely to remain similar to now – the plan is for each new site to be far more powerful than those they will replace, significantly pushing up the UK’s capacity, according to the PA news agency.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that Boris Johnson is preparing to announce plans to expand the Government’s commitment to move forward with new large-scale nuclear power stations this decade.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng James Manning

The newspaper said the plan had been to back one by 2024, but it is thought the new ambition will be to support the construction of two by 2030.

The move to scale up nuclear power production will reportedly form part of a major expansion of homegrown energy in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.

It comes as the Government’s energy security strategy is expected to be unveiled on Thursday.

Asked about the scale of the its nuclear ambitions, Mr Kwarteng told The Sunday Telegraph: “There is a realisation across Government that we could do more on nuclear.

“With energy, you’re thinking maybe 30, even 40 years [ahead]. If we fast forward to 2050, there is a world where we have six or seven sites in the UK. That isn’t going to happen in the next two years, but it’s definitely something that we can aspire to.

“The Prime Minister said, in terms of the energy generation mix, we could see maybe a quarter of that being nuclear. I’d say 15 to 25 per cent. But obviously in the first three years you’re not going to suddenly have six new nuclear stations in three years. It’s physically impossible to do that.”

Steam is released from Reactor 4 at Hunterston B nuclear power plant in North Ayrshire. Jane Barlow

Britain could get seven new nuclear power stations by 2050

Edward Malnick
Sat, April 2, 2022, 

Hinkley Point C in Somerset, under construction by French firm EDF Energy, is due to open in 2026 - Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg

Britain could build up to seven new nuclear power stations as part of a radical expansion of homegrown energy following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the Business Secretary has said.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Kwasi Kwarteng said "there is a world where we have six or seven sites in the UK" by 2050 as part of a push for self-reliance.

Ministers have agreed to set up a development vehicle, Great British Nuclear, to identify sites, cut through red tape to speed up the planning process and bring together private firms to run each site.

As a first step, Boris Johnson is preparing to announce plans to significantly expand the existing commitment to back one new large-scale nuclear power station by 2024.

The Prime Minister and Mr Kwarteng have been battling with Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, to secure funding for new plants – a row first disclosed by The Telegraph.

However, a meeting between Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak on Wednesday is said to have ended in agreement on expanding Britain's existing set of ageing nuclear plants, all but one of which are due to be decommissioned by 2030.

The energy security strategy, due to be unveiled on Thursday, is expected to commit the Government to supporting the construction of at least two new large-scale plants by 2030 in addition to small modular reactors.

A government source said: "Nuclear will definitely look larger in the British energy mix by the end of this decade."

Mr Johnson and Mr Kwarteng then want to more than treble the country's existing seven gigawatts of nuclear capacity to 24 GW by 2050.

The Business Secretary acknowledged that in France, which now generates the majority of its electricity using nuclear power stations, "it has cost a fortune... but it has given them a measure of independence which is envied, frankly, by other people on the continent – by the Germans, for example, and the Italians".

Separately, The Telegraph has been told that Mr Johnson used a round table with renewable energy firms last week to urge the industry to build a "colossal" offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea within 12 months.

The Prime Minister told industry leaders he has "a dream" that a giant floating wind farm could provide "gigawatts of energy and do it within a year", according to a government source.

Nuclear and offshore wind energy are expected to be at the centre of the document being finalised by No 10. A separate row has been sparked by Mr Kwarteng's push for a dramatic expansion of onshore wind farms following a moratorium imposed by David Cameron in 2015.

The strategy is expected to raise the prospect of relaxing planning laws in England to make it easier to build turbines on land but, in the face of significant opposition from ministers and backbenchers, Mr Kwarteng acknowledged: "Any movement has to have a large measure of local consent."

His remarks appear to backtrack from his recent declaration that, while there "were quite understandable political reasons that people didn't want to see large scale, onshore wind farms in their vicinity... I think that's changed".

Mr Kwarteng confirmed ministers are discussing possible incentives, such as reduced energy bills, that could be offered to people in exchange for agreeing to the development of a wind farm in their area.

Asked about the scale of the Government's nuclear ambitions, he said: "There is a realisation across Government that we could do more on nuclear.

"With energy, you're thinking maybe 30, even 40 years [ahead]. If we fast forward to 2050, there is a world where we have six or seven sites in the UK. That isn't going to happen in the next two years, but it's definitely something that we can aspire to.

"The Prime Minister said, in terms of the energy generation mix, we could see maybe a quarter of that being nuclear. I'd say 15 to 25 per cent. But obviously in the first three years you're not going to suddenly have six new nuclear stations in three years. It's physically impossible to do that."

The Great British Nuclear delivery body is likely to be a government-owned company akin to HS2 Ltd, which is building the high speed railway line.

Asked which arguments he had used to lobby Mr Sunak for vast sums at a time when the Chancellor is resisting further public spending, he said: "I think it's a long term thing. Also, we're committed to having a vehicle which looks at this, and which actually can facilitate that, and I think there's a measure of agreement on that.

"Obviously I don't want to anticipate what's in the strategy, but I think there is a realisation across government that we could do more on nuclear, and that's why in the Prime Minister's 10-Point Plan, which was published in November 2020, the third point was all about nuclear."

Mr Kwarteng said that if the emerging technology of small modular reactors was successful, Britain could deploy up to 10 on one site to provide the equivalent output of a large-scale nuclear plant.

The Telegraph has revealed that a US energy developer linked to Elon Musk is in talks with the Government to build "hundreds" of small modular reactors across the UK.

Last Energy wants to build its first "mini-nuclear" power plant by 2025 and has identified a site in Wales. The company will invest £1.4 billion to build 10 reactors by the end of the decade.

AUSTRALIA

As water levels rise so too does the pressure to stop building houses on flood plains

Residents of flood-prone Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley near Sydney say real estate agents should have to advise buyers of risks

Stacey O'Toole, a property owner in Sydney's north-west says prospective buyers need to be informed of risks, as the threat of flooding in the area worsens. 

Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

Mostafa Rachwani
THE GUARDIAN.AU

Sat 2 Apr 2022 

Before Stacey O’Toole bought her new property in North Richmond, on the outskirts of Sydney, she diligently checked everything she could to ensure it wouldn’t be affected by flooding.

But when Australia’s east coast was hit by a “rain bomb” in early March, it had to be evacuated because two local stormwater dams were at risk of failing.


They didn’t – but O’Toole says “we were very concerned because we thought we’d bought somewhere that wasn’t going to be impacted”.

“We looked at all the data, we looked at the flooding maps as well, and obviously did all the conveyancing that you do when you buy a property,” she says.


Motor homes for flood-affected Lismore residents empty while more temporary housing yet to arrive

O’Toole has lived and worked in north-west Sydney for nearly 30 years and has three properties in the area – making her a seasoned navigator of the flood-prone region.

But the flooding has been getting worse with the area hit with two “one-in-100-year” floods in two years, she says.

“It’s starting to change and places are flooding that have never flooded before, especially around the Pitt Town area. It might be nuisance flooding or local flooding – but it got to a point where it was impassable.

“I’ve never really been concerned with floods before because I know where the water is going to go. [But this time] our main evacuation route went underwater while we were on it.”

Potential flooding presents a dilemma for prospective buyers. In Sydney’s white-hot housing market the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley proved an opportunity for buyers – although prices surged by up to 45% during the pandemic, according to real estate website Domain.

In Richmond, prices grew by up to 32%, and O’Toole believes the influx of new homeowners aren’t as well informed as they should be.

Stacey O'Toole says north-west Sydney is ‘starting to change and places are flooding that have never flooded before’. 

Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

“A lot of people in the new areas thought the floods wouldn’t impact them but they had power and water cut to their homes because it all comes from the same place,” she says.

“They weren’t particularly educated, they think they are safe up on a hill, but they’re absolutely not.”

There are many blocks of land and properties for sale in flood zones – including in Richmond, Windsor, Pitt Town and Penrith – where the advertisements do not mention the flood risk. None of the real estate agents selling the properties contacted by the Guardian responded to requests for comment.

O’Toole argues communication with prospective buyers must improve.

“People spend a lot of money on those homes, but you can’t change the fact that you are on a flood plain,” she says. “There needs to be a better system for people to actually understand what the dangers are.”


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Marcus Claxton, who is building a house on a block of land in the Redbank estate in North Richmond, agrees. He says it should be mandatory for real estate listings to mention the flooding risk.

“If it is in a flood zone, they should have it front and centre, because people may not know to ask,” he says. “If a home is in those flood zones – and long term Hawkesbury residents know those areas – I would strongly advise against buying there.”

Claxton and his wife have always lived in the region and intended to stay – but are worried about the rising flood levels.

“During this year’s flood, the road used for flood-free access actually flooded, which was a bit weird,” he says.

“I was a bit unnerved watching the water rise because it did come a lot higher. They [the authorities] really need to scrutinise what land they make available for building. And they need to rethink the one-in-100 year flood line … we need to go maybe one or two metres above that.”

Chief executive of the real estate institute of NSW, Tim McKibbin, says it is not mandatory to include flood-risk warnings on listings but agents must disclose if a property has been flooded in the past five years. There is no obligation to disclose if a property is on a flood plain.


Josh Frydenberg open to intervening in insurance market as climate change pushes up premiums

“It becomes very uncertain because the legislation and the regulation only talks about the past five years,” McKibbin said. “The legislation and regulation are also silent on how agents should disclose that [recent event] information – they only need to demonstrate they have made that disclosure.”

Tom Hubble, a geologist and associate professor at the University of Sydney, says it is “quite reasonable” to expect more frequent and higher floods to hit the region.

“I’m expecting repeat events of floods of similar sizes and possibly quite a bit larger over the next few decades,” he says.

“If I was placed in charge, I would be endeavouring to reduce the number of people that are located in what we would recognise to be flood-prone ground.


“The inherent cyclicity that is probably evident in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, and the specific nature of the channel geometry suggests to me that that’s not the best place to have large urban populations, or even large, semi-urban and semi-rural populations.”

Thousands more people could soon be living on the Hawkesbury-Nepean flood plain if land already approved for development were to proceed, according to planning officials, councillors and the state government’s own data.

NSW floods: drone footage shows scale of devastation in Lismore – video

The NSW government is pausing new developments while it revises its flood strategy but pressure to open up more land for housing isn’t expected to ease. The Coalition is pursuing a controversial plan to raise the wall of Warragamba Dam which it argues could mitigate some risk.

Hubble says the area has experienced long term cycles where floods then droughts dominate – with each period lasting 30 to 50 years.

He says the lack of major floods in the region between the early 1990s and recent years reflects we are shifting into a new cycle. “If the observation of the flood-dominated regime versus drought-dominated regime is real then we can expect floods as large or larger to occur on a relatively frequent basis.”

The geologist says authorities should rethink planning decisions based on the one-in-100-year flood line and the advice given to people buying land or homes in the area.

“Unfortunately, the geography and the geology of that area means that the one-in-200-year and the one-in-500-year flood and the probable maximum floods are much, much higher events than we would expect to encounter on most flood plains.

“So the probable maximum flood is about twice the height of the one-in-100 year flood in that particular river system down around Windsor and Sackville. And if there is cyclicity in the system, then a lot of our estimates may well be underestimates.”

NSW and Queensland floods 2022