European leaders must deliver a renovation wave that leaves no one stranded

Laia Segura, Friends of the Earth Europe and Javier Tobías, ECODES
Fri, 10 March 2023 


Even before the energy crisis struck, 50 million people across the European Union were living in energy poverty, unable to adequately light, heat or cool their homes, choosing between heating and eating.

Renovating the EU's worst-performing homes, those that waste the highest quantity of energy — and often housing the most vulnerable families — will help tackle housing exclusion and improve living conditions.

Fixing Europe’s housing is key to eradicating energy poverty.

With 75% of Europe’s buildings deemed inefficient and 40% of our energy consumption taken by our homes, it seems obvious that housing renovations should be a priority for the bloc's leaders.
This year is crucial to the well-being of millions

With the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive or EPBD coming to an end, 2023 could be a watershed moment for the well-being of millions of citizens.

Europeans cannot afford to let valuable heat escape in the winter or let it creep in during summer.

Europe's energy crisis: European nations scramble to help households with soaring bills


Why energy poverty is rising among low-income households in the EU

High indoor temperatures can be even more harmful, causing increased mortality rates during heat waves.

Jordanka Dimitrichkova who lives alone at her home in a suburb of the Bulgarian capital Sofia, brings in wood for her wood-burning stove, January 2009 - Petar Petrov/AP

Indecent housing leads to dampness, which can cause respiratory health issues, and cold living environments can worsen cardiovascular diseases.

Carbon monoxide poisoning and other intoxications go hand in hand with outdated temperature control methods using wood and coal, and/or fossil fuels.

Still, high indoor temperatures can be even more harmful, causing increased mortality rates during heat waves.
No one should be made to live in inadequate housing

The EPBD has the potential to offer a long-term solution to address energy poverty and improve living conditions for millions of Europeans.

This opportunity must be seized by prioritising the renovation of worst performing homes of vulnerable households and ensuring no one is locked into inefficient homes with dirty and outdated heating and cooling technologies.

"MEPS need to be implemented ... to ensure the renovations benefit those who need them the most and don’t leave them stranded.

Elma Avdic, 4, peers from the window of her old family house near the Bosnian town of Kalesija, 130 kms north of Sarajevo, February 2012 - Amel Emric/AP

Housing renovation incentives have been offered for decades, yet renovation rates are far below what is needed, particularly when considering the number of households faced with energy poverty.

Regulatory measures, including Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) throughout the residential sector, binding standards on indoor air quality and phasing out fossil fuels, are all necessary parts of the push.

To ensure the EPBD covers vulnerable families, MEPS need to be implemented alongside strong social safeguards and adequate outreach and funding programs to ensure the renovations benefit those who need them the most and don’t leave them stranded.
Energy efficiency and comfort for all

MEPS require buildings to meet a minimum energy efficiency standard within a certain period, giving them the potential to boost renovations in Europe’s most draughty and leaky buildings.

However, amongst the positive proposals within the EPBD, catastrophic exclusions are creeping in.

Households across Europe struggle to pay bills as cost of living crisis bites

How are EU households and businesses coping with the energy crisis?

Negotiators have proposed a range of exemptions that will exclude some households from receiving renovations, meaning some of the people who need them most will see their dreams go up in thin air.

Allowing member states to be selective and exclude large percentages of the worst-performing buildings from the renovation plans drastically limits the directive's ability to lift millions out of energy poverty.

Homes that have so far been ignored in renovation efforts will continue to be left out.

A key question EU decision-makers need to address when considering each and every single exemption is who is the renovation wave for and who is being excluded?

The European Council President Charles Michel and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speak at the end of an EU Summit in Prague, October 2022 - AP Photo/Darko Bandic

A key question EU decision-makers need to address when considering each and every single exemption is who is the renovation wave for and who is being excluded?

Overlooking MEPS for residential buildings means overlooking the EPBD’s potential to tackle some of the structural inequalities of our housing system.

To actually protect the energy poor, provide decent housing for all and be a way out of the energy crisis, the EPBD needs MEPS for residential buildings with stronger social safeguards.

Fossil fuels for no one

The energy crisis has shown us how exposed we are to the fossil fuel industry's volatile prices.

It’s time to stop lining the fossil fuel industry's pockets and start protecting ourselves by accelerating the energy transition, strengthening citizen engagement in the energy system and fully decarbonising our homes.

Fossil fuel-based heating will become more expensive as infrastructure costs will be carried by a smaller number of homes, price volatility increases and the application of carbon taxations to households.

An employee of the company EngelSolar holds a solar panel in Boadilla del Monte near Madrid, December 2022 - JAVIER SORIANO/AFP or licensors

Renewable heating and cooling solutions on the market are numerous and are becoming increasingly affordable, offering comfortable home temperatures no matter the climate.

We need an EPBD that delivers these solutions into our homes by creating a policy framework that helps EU Member States rapidly scale up programmes that let households take advantage of energy savings and renewables.

Fossil fuel-based heating will become more expensive as infrastructure costs will be carried by a smaller number of homes, price volatility increases and the application of carbon taxations to households.
We need to lift millions out of energy poverty — and EPBD can do that

Opening the door to maintaining heating systems that use gas, with the excuse of alternatives like "renewables-ready" systems, including hydrogen, will not serve vulnerable or low-income households.

It will leave them locked into using expensive, dirty, and dangerous fossil fuels, which won’t offer cheaper bills.

EU's green renovations proposal 'lacking ambition', says environmental lobby

A Berlin resident cooks dinner on a gas stove in the German capital in 2009 - JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP

To lift millions of people out of energy poverty, we need ambitious MEPS standards with strong social safeguards and a decarbonised heating and cooling system for all.

We need an EPBD that unleashes its full potential to help solve the housing and climate crisis.

Laia Segura from Friends of the Earth Europe and Javier Tobías from ECODES are part of the Right to Energy coalition, representing one of Europe’s largest groups fighting to eradicate energy poverty, bringing together trade unions, anti-poverty groups, social housing providers, NGOs, environmental campaigners, health organisations and energy cooperatives across Europe.

KASHMIR IS INDIA'S GAZA
Indian minister accuses New York Times of ‘spreading lies’ after damning report on Kashmir


Arpan Rai
Fri, 10 March 2023 

India’s minister of information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur (L) and national security advisor Ajit Doval at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi (AFP via Getty Images)

An Indian minister launched a sharp retort at The New York Times (NYT) for publishing a news report on the alleged arming of civilians in the contentious territory of Kashmir over which the Narendra Modi administration exercises control.

The report “India is arming villagers in one of Earth’s most militarised places” detailed the alleged revival of local militias in Jammu territory in the years since Kashmir’s special status was abrogated. It accused the government of displaying a military approach to tackle the conflict in the Himalayan part controlled by India.

Anurag Thakur, the federal minister of information and broadcast under the Modi administration, accused the US daily of “spreading lies” about India and nourishing a grudge against the country’s prime minister.


“The New York Times had long back dropped all pretensions of neutrality while publishing anything about India. NYT’s so called opinion piece on freedom of press in Kashmir is mischievous and fictitious published w/ [with] a sole motive to spread a propaganda about India and its democratic institutions and values,” the minister tweeted.

He added that this was “in continuation with what NYT and a few other link-minded foreign media have been spreading lies” about India and its democratically elected prime minister Narendra Modi.

“Some foreign media nourishing a grudge against India and our prime minister Shri Narendra Modi have long been systematically trying to peddle lies about our democracy and pleuritic society,” Mr Thakur said without elaborating about the nature of these lies.

“Freedom of press in India is as sacrosanct as other fundamental rights,” the minister said.

He said “Indians will not allow such mindsets to run their decisive agenda on India soil”.

India ranked 150 among 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index in 2022. The nation tumbled from its previously held spot of 133 in 2016 in the index released by the global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

In the news report published on Wednesday, The New York Times featured the Dhangri village where ordinary civilian men working as drivers, shopkeepers, and farmers have allegedly been handed arms at night to keep guard as local militia in the face of rising deadly militant attacks on Hindu families.

The federal Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir has remained a flashpoint amid controversial claims of land control by Pakistan and been a fertile ground for tensions springing due to terrorism and religious discord between the Hindu and Muslim population.

Tensions have further heightened in the Himalayan area due to rising local militant crossfires and rising attacks elsewhere in the country on minority communities.

The report noted that the continuing attacks on civilians have sparked questions about the government’s military approach to a “fundamentally a political problem in Kashmir”.

Plastic pollution in oceans has reached 'unprecedented' levels in 15 years


NEWS WIRES
Fri, 10 March 2023 

© Olivier Morin, AFP

Plastic pollution in the world's oceans has reached "unprecedented levels" over the past 15 years, a new study has found, calling for a legally binding international treaty to stop the harmful waste.

Ocean plastic pollution is a persistent problem around the globe -- animals may become entangled in larger pieces of plastic like fishing nets, or ingest microplastics that eventually enter the food chain to be consumed by humans.

Research published on Wednesday found that there are an estimated 170 trillion pieces of plastic, mainly microplastics, on the surface of the world's oceans today, much of it discarded since 2005.

"Plastic pollution in the world's oceans during the past 15 years has reached unprecedented levels," said the study, published in open-access journal PLOS One.

The amounts were higher than previous estimates, and the study found that the rate of plastic entering the oceans could accelerate several-fold in the coming decades if left unchecked.

Researchers took plastic samples from over 11,000 stations around the world focusing on a 40-year period between 1979 and 2019.

They found no trends until 1990, then a fluctuation in trends between 1990 and 2005. After that, the samples skyrocket.

"We see a really rapid increase since 2005 because there is a rapid increase in production and also a limited number of policies that are controlling the release of plastic into the ocean," contributing author Lisa Erdle told AFP.

The sources of plastic pollution in the ocean are numerous.

In 1950, only two million tonnes of plastic were produced worldwide.

(AFP)

Judy Heumann obituary

American disability rights activist


David Brindle
Fri, 10 March 2023 

The leading US disability rights advocate Judy Heumann, who has died aged 75, fought for her own and others’ emancipation, and blazed a trail for fellow campaigners around the world.

Espousing both direct action and working with and inside government, she played a decisive role in securing legislation outlawing discrimination against disabled people across the US and helping shape international protocols. She served the Clinton and Obama administrations and became the first adviser on disability and development at the World Bank.

The British crossbench peer and disability rights campaigner Jane Campbell described Heumann as “[the] greatest woman disability rights activist/leader who inspired me to become what I am today. She gave everything to our worldwide civil rights movement.”

Heumann’s own disability was caused by childhood polio, which left her unable to walk. The local nursery school refused to admit her on the grounds that she and her wheelchair would be a fire hazard. Her parents fought to ensure she was educated and did not miss out on mainstream activities, and a formative experience was attending Camp Jened, a pioneering summer camp for disabled children and young people in Hunter, New York, later made famous by a 2020 documentary film, Crip Camp, in which she featured.

She first came to prominence in 1970, when she sued the New York City board of education for denying her a teaching licence because of her “paralysis of both lower extremities”, which, the board said, might prevent her escorting students out of school in case of an emergency. She won her case, stating that if the school did not have a ramp or a lift, she could teach on the ground floor, and in any case she could move faster than a pedestrian in an electric wheelchair. She won the suit, and became the city’s first teacher in a wheelchair.

Two years later she was one of a group of disabled people who blocked traffic in Manhattan in protest at President Richard Nixon’s initial veto of anti-discrimination legislation. And, in 1977, she helped lead a 26-day occupation of a federal government building in San Francisco – the celebrated “504 Sit-in” – as part of nationwide action that forced the Carter administration to sign the section 504 regulations that finally enacted the same legislation, ultimately providing the basis of the widely respected 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act.

Judy Heumann attending the 2022 Women's Entrepreneurship Day organisation summit at the UN in New York in May 2022. Photograph: Chance Yeh/Getty Images

Those 1970s protests are seen now as a watershed, the first in which disabled people with impairments of all kinds joined forces. When the authorities cut power, water and landline phones to try to end the San Francisco standoff, deaf people among the occupiers maintained contact with supporters outside by using sign language.

In 1975 Heumann was on the west coast, after gaining a master’s in public health at the University of California, Berkeley. There, she co-founded with other disabled students the celebrated Berkeley Center for Independent Living, which she served as deputy director until 1982. The centre occupies a special place in the history of disability rights, leading as it did to the establishment of more than 400 others in the US alone and inspiring disabled visitors from other countries, including the UK, to fight for supported independent living as a proven alternative to residential homes.

John Evans, who was in one of the first groups of disabled people in the UK to leave residential care for their own home in the early 80s, visited Berkeley to prepare for the transition. He later recalled: “Everything I dreamed of, everything I thought of, was going on in front of my eyes.”

In 1983, Heumann co-founded the World Institute on Disability in Berkeley, serving as co-director until 1993, when she moved to Washington DC to work for President Bill Clinton on special education and rehabilitation services for disabled people.

She left government with Clinton, going to the World Bank (2002-06), but returned in 2010 under Barack Obama as special adviser on international disability rights and director of the department of disability services.

It was to her profound and lasting disappointment that, owing largely to Republican resistance to external influence on domestic policy, Obama failed to win sufficient backing in Congress to ratify the 2008 UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, which she helped draft. Today, the US remains one of just a handful of UN affiliates not to have done so.

Born in Philadelphia but brought up in Brooklyn, New York, Judy had two younger brothers. Her father, Werner, who ran a butcher’s shop, and mother, Ilse, who was active in community groups, had been sent separately from Nazi Germany in the 1930s by their Jewish parents, who all later died in the Holocaust. She thought this experience was why her own parents, especially her mother, fought tenaciously to prevent her being separated from them and placed in institutional care.

She contracted polio at 18 months and spent three months in an iron lung. She had to be home educated until she was nine, when her mother eventually won her full admission to school. Yet even then she and other disabled students had to take lessons in a basement and were able to mix with the wider school community only at a weekly assembly.

She attended a special high school, then Long Island University, graduating with a BA in speech and theatre in 1969.

In her memoir, Being Heumann (2020), she reflected: “Some people say that what I did changed the world. But really, I simply refused to accept what I was told about who I could be. And I was willing to make a fuss about it.”

Heumann is survived by her husband, Jorge Pineda, an accountant and fellow wheelchair user who she met at an activist meeting and married in 1992, and her brothers, Ricky and Joseph.

• Judith Ellen Heumann, disability rights campaigner, born 18 December 1947; died 4 March 2023

Spain's coalition government strikes deal on pensions, shifting cost to high earners

Belén Carreño
Fri, 10 March 2023

 A pensioner looks at the street from her balcony in Barcelona

By Belén Carreño

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Socialists and their junior coalition partners Unidas Podemos have struck a deal on changes to the pension system that will put most of the additional cost on its highest earners, government sources said.

The overhaul is a key requirement by Brussels for Spain to access a fourth tranche of European post-pandemic recovery funds and has caused dispute within the coalition government as it seeks to hike revenue without penalising future pensioners.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the proposals would provide stability for a pension system under pressure with one of Europe's largest ageing populations.

Revenues will increase by 15 billion euros ($16 billion) a year, representing a rise of three percentage points of gross domestic product by 2050 and reducing to 15.5% of GDP the burden of pension payments on the budget.

A government source told Reuters that Madrid had received positive preliminary feedback from the European Commission about the proposal. A Commission spokesperson said they had been informed but that official opinion would not come for some months.

Other countries in Europe are also changing their pension systems. Fierce, cross-sectoral protests have raged in France in recent weeks over plans to cut benefits or extend the retirement age for pensioners by two years to 64.

Spain carried out a major pension reform in 2011 when it raised its retirement age to 67 but that proved insufficient to offset the high costs of the system, which has come under pressure from measures such as the raising of pension payouts in line with inflation.

'ENDANGERING JOB CREATION'

The government plans to press ahead in spite of opposition to the proposal by Spain's main business association, the CEOE.

The reform "will reduce the wages of all workers and increase labour costs, endangering job creation," CEOE said in an emailed statement.

A so-called "solidarity tax" will remove tax exemptions from social contributions for high earners, from salaries above 54,000 euros a year. The new tax, paid by earners' employers, will start at 1% in 2025, rising to 6% by 2045.

The government also plans to double from 0.6% a recently-introduced social contribution known as the "Mechanism of Intergenerational Equity" designed to generate further revenue.

Total labour costs for companies paying the highest salaries will increase by seven percentage points, in line with the European average, government sources said.

Although the government does not have a parliamentary majority, other left-wing parties are expected to support the reform if it is backed by unions, which said in a statement that they saw it "positively".

The government is proposing to raise the minimum number of years of contribution to 29 years from 25 years, a key aspect of the reform required for Brussels' approval. However, it is offering to make the increase voluntary until 2044, to facilitate an agreement from unions.

($1 = 0.9383 euros)

(Reporting by Belén Carreño; Writing by Charlie Devereux; Editing by Aislinn Laing and Angus MacSwan)

SCOTLAND

Largest teachers' union accepts pay deal and ends long-running strikes

Jody Harrison
Fri, 10 March 2023

Largest teachers' union accepts pay deal ending long-running strikes (Image: PA)

Teachers have called off all industrial action after accepting a pay deal with the Scottish Government.

Members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) have voted overwhelmingly to accept a new offer from Ministers, calling and end to the long-running dispute which has closed schools and cancelled classes across the country.

Teachers with the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) backed the sixth deal put to them, which will see a 7 per cent pay rise backdated to April 2022, a further 5% next month, and another 2% in January.

EIS members voted 90 per cent in favour of accepting the deal, with only 10% opposed on a turnout of 82%.

READ MORE: Teacher strikes suspended as EIS urge members to accept new pay offer

The EIS tweeted: “Pay offer will be accepted. All strike action in pursuit of an improved teachers’ pay offer cancelled.”

The ballot follows that of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA), who voted 85.3% in favour of accepting the offer, with 14.7% rejecting it. Turnout was 79.9%.

Hundreds of thousands of pupils in both Primary and Secondary schools have had classes cancelled during the months of the industrial dispuite, leaving many parents struggling to arrange childcare.

Flying pickets also targeted the constituencies of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Shirley-Anne Somerville, along with Scottish Green education spokesman Ross Greer.

Andrea Bradley, EIS general secretary, said the high turnout shows members had “taken a pragmatic decision in voting to accept the current pay offer”.

She added: “While it does not meet our aspirations in respect of a restorative pay settlement for Scotland’s teachers, it is the best deal that can realistically be achieved in the current political and financial climate without further prolonged industrial action.

“It compares favourably with recent pay settlements across the public sector, and does provide pay certainty for Scotland’s teachers for the next 16 months until the next pay settlement is scheduled to be delivered in August 2024.”

Under the deal, most teachers will see their pay increase by 14.6% by January 2024, Ms Bradley said.

HeraldScotland:

The EIS members’ approval of the deal came after a breakthrough in negotiations last week, which saw the union pause its planned 20-day campaign of rolling strikes in every part of Scotland.

The pay dispute between councils and the teaching unions had become bitterly contested, with the first walk out taking place last November.

Shirley-Anne Somerville labelled the latest deal a “historic offer” which she said would see teacher pay “increase by 33% from January 2018 to January 2024”.

She said: “I am very pleased that EIS and SSTA members have voted overwhelmingly to accept this historic offer and I look forward to the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers giving it formal consideration in due course.

“It is the most generous offer to teachers in more than 20 years and one that is fair, affordable and sustainable for everyone involved.

“Teachers in Scotland are already the best paid in the UK and this deal will mean a salary rise of £5,200 in April for most teachers, and a cumulative rise of 33% since January 2018.

“A resolution to this dispute and an end to the threat of further strike disruption in our schools will be a huge relief for children, young people, parents, carers, and teachers, too.”

HeraldScotland:

EIS and SSTA leaders had recommended members accepted the deal.

NASUWT members are also involved in the dispute and its general secretary, Patrick Roach, had condemned the latest offer from Scottish Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville as “only a paltry improvement” on the previous proposal.

That union is also balloting its members on the deal.

SSTA general secretary Seamus Searson said: “The membership has determined to accept the latest pay offer.

“Throughout the period of industrial action, the SSTA has taken a measured approach and has been willing to negotiate to find a solution to the pay dispute.

“The SSTA is proud to be a member-led union, and the ballot is a fundamental part of our democratic process.”

READ MORE: Teachers hold rally outside Nicola Sturgeon's office

Mr Searson said the SSTA will now push for teachers to receive the backpay they are due as quickly as possible.

He continued: “However, the SSTA has a major concern over the unnecessary pay cap; this seems to be an act of political dogma rather than a rational proposal.

“The inclusion of this is a considerable barrier in the professional career structure for secondary school teachers.

“The career ladder has been stifled for many years, the number of posts of responsibility has been cut severely. Posts such as these are needed in secondary schools as they are essential for good management systems.”

SCOTLAND

Strike action at airports suspended after new pay offer

Lucinda Cameron, PA Scotland
Fri, 10 March 2023 



Planned strike action involving airport fire and security staff in the Highlands and islands has been suspended as a union considers a new pay offer.

Prospect union members at Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (Hial) had been due to walk out on Monday and next Friday in a dispute over pay.

However the union said it has agreed to suspend the action after an improved offer from the employer.

It said workers have been offered 7%, which it described as significantly better than the previous rejected offer of 5%.

Prospect members will now be balloted on whether to accept the new offer.

Jane Rose, Prospect negotiator, said: “This is a welcome improvement to the offer from the employer which we will now be putting to members via ballot, although it is clear there are wider pay structure issues at Hial which remain to be addressed.

“As a gesture of good faith in the negotiations, and recognising the positive change in the offer from Hial, we will be suspending all industrial action until the conclusion of consultation with members.”

Hial said it met with the three trade unions involved – PCS, Prospect and Unite – on Thursday and made an enhanced pay offer.

Inglis Lyon, Hial managing director, said: “The new business case presented to Transport Scotland at the beginning of the week was approved and allowed us to make an improved pay offer.

“The trade unions welcomed this offer and have confirmed that they will now ballot their members on acceptance.

“We look forward to the outcome of the ballot and are hopeful for a positive result to resolve the current industrial dispute.

“We apologise for the disruption this industrial action has caused and would ask passengers to contact their airline if they have any questions on flights.”

Hial airports have been affected by a series of strikes in recent months as Unite members walked out over the pay dispute.

Shauna Wright, Unite industrial officer, said: “Unite can confirm that we have received a new and improved pay offer from Hial.

“Unite’s members are currently being balloted on this offer, which Unite has welcomed as a significant step forward by the company but ultimately it is in the hands of our members who will make the final decision.

“All proposed industrial action involving Unite members is now postponed until we receive the ballot result on March 20.”

The PCS said it will consult with its members and its national disputes committee.

It said strike action planned for next Wednesday will not be suspended, however it said airports affected will remain open as normal and no disruption is anticipated.

Earlier this month Loganair announced it was being forced to temporarily suspend flights from Inverness to Stornoway and Benbecula, and from Inverness to Kirkwall and Sumburgh, due to work-to-rule industrial action.

It said it now aims to resume services as soon as it is practical.

A Loganair spokesman said: “We warmly welcome this positive step forward in negotiations between Hial and their unions.

“Loganair aims to resume services from Inverness to Kirkwall, Sumburgh, Stornoway and Benbecula as soon as it is practical to do so and we will issue further updates in due course in line with the ballot outcome.”

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “We welcome the progress made by Hial and the unions and call on airlines to reinstate services as soon as possible to minimise disruption to communities affected.”

UK
Climate protester confronts judge over ‘amoral’ order on what jury could hear


Laura Parnaby, PA
Fri, 10 March 2023

A road-blocking protester who could face jail has confronted a judge over the decision to ban him from mentioning his climate-related motivations to a jury.

Insulate Britain activist Stephen Pritchard, 63, from Bath, used his speech in court ahead of his sentencing to condemn the order made by Judge Silas Reid as “amoral” and “irrational”.

The Buddhist and former parish councillor appeared at Inner London Crown Court alongside former probation officer Ruth Cook, 71, gardener Roman Paluch-Machnik, 29, and carpenter Oliver Rock, 42.

All four were convicted by a jury of causing a nuisance to the public by obstructing the highway after they stopped traffic at Junction 3 of the M4 on October 1 2021.

Insulate Britain said they are the first protesters to be convicted of causing a public nuisance – a common law offence which carries a maximum penalty of lifetime imprisonment.

Judge Reid had ruled that they should not mention their climate motivations during their trial, but asked them to “concentrate as much as possible on motivation” in their speeches ahead of sentencing.

He told them: “Blocking the road in the way you did, if it was done for no reason, is a serious matter and would result in a prison sentence.”

Pritchard told the court he turned to protest action after he had “exhausted every other means”, including writing to his MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, signing petitions, leading sustainability projects, and planting tens of thousands of trees.

Stephen Pritchard outside Inner London Crown Court (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

He said he felt “overwhelming sadness” about Government “inaction” on climate change.

Addressing Judge Reid, Pritchard said: “I think that your rulings were amoral; I believe also they were irrational given the situation that we’re in.

“People’s lives are being lost. The only possible way I could imagine stopping peaceful civil resistance in this context is for you to tell me that this country has stopped pumping greenhouse gases into the air.

“I’m well aware of what prison is like, having been to prison. It’s not a very nice place. But I feel like I’m already a prisoner of my conscience.”

Rock said he has spent two months in prison over similar protests, and felt “traumatised” by it, adding that he was worried he would “have a complete mental breakdown” if he were jailed again.

Oliver Rock is hugged by fellow campaigner Ruth Cook outside Inner London Crown Court (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

He said there were “three prison guards to around 80 prisoners” and many took “bucketloads of drugs to control their anxiety”.

Rock, from Dulwich, south London, said he felt compelled to take part in the 2021 protest because he believes his young nephew and niece “don’t have a decent future” due to climate change.

“I feel really angry,” he said. “I think we are headed to a very dark place. I don’t think we are going to turn this ship around in time.

“I see the reactions from politicians, and they don’t know what to do and they just want everyone to be quiet.

“I don’t know what to do. I am desperate to change the future we are facing.”

Ruth Cook outside Inner London Crown Court (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

Rock said his motivations were “moral and spiritual”, and referred to the court case as “fiddling” with paperwork “while the world is burning”.

Cook, who founded a training company after leaving the Probation Service, said she had spent decades “upholding the law” but resorted to disruptive protests so she could “look her grandchildren in the eye”.

Speaking about Judge Reid’s imposition of limits to their defence, the grandmother from Frome, Somerset, gestured to the jury bench and said: “I’m really aware of those empty seats.

“I am going to say things now that I wish they would have been able to hear, so that they weren’t discussing traffic data and listening to boring statistics about traffic, but knew why we did what we did.”

Cook, who is also a Quaker, said her work delivering aid in Africa on behalf of Oxfam and the Refugee Council and seeing climate refugees in the continent “changed me fundamentally”.

Stephen Pritchard, Ruth Cook, Roman Paluch-Machnik and Oliver Rock (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

“I saw the impact that the climate emergency was having on their lives,” she said.

Cook said going through the court system had been “far more stressful than sitting on a motorway” and she did not intend to take part in any further law-breaking protests.

The defendants also mentioned the impact the campaign had had on their friend Xavier Gonzalez-Trimmer, who killed himself after spending time in prison over an Insulate Britain protest.

Pritchard said: “He was a brave, gentle and caring human being who could see the future we were facing and was desperate to do something about it, and now he’s dead.”

Paluch-Machnik used his speech to highlight the impact of climate change, adding: “This isnt a belief system of mine, this is a measurable process.”

The four will return to the same court for sentencing by Judge Reid on a date to be confirmed next week.

Canada: inquiry into police unit accused of excessive force against green activists


Leyland Cecco in Toronto

THE GUARDIAN
Fri, 10 March 2023 

Photograph: Cole Burston/AFP/Getty Images

Canada’s federal police force has opened an investigation into a controversial unit tasked with overseeing environmental protests, following hundreds of complaints that officers used excessive force, disregarded court orders and violated protesters’ rights.

Related: Giving the middle finger is a ‘God-given right’, Canadian judge rules

The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, a watchdog arm of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said on Thursday it would examine the activities of the community-industry response group, or C-IRG, based in British Columbia.

During the Fairy Creek blockade against old-growth forest logging on Vancouver Island, officers with the special unit were accused of ripping off protesters’ masks to pepper-spray them and dragging them by their hair.

A British Columbia supreme court judge subsequently ruled that the exclusion zones created by the RCMP – set up to prevent media from entering certain areas of the injunction area – were unlawful.

The C-IRG was also involved in protests over the Coastal GasLink pipeline, deploying riot control officers, dogs and helicopters to dismantle blockades – and as the Guardian has previously reported, was prepared to shoot on Indigenous protesters.

The RCMP has long faced criticism for its conduct against Indigenous peoples, and in recent years has faced mounting concerns over accountability and a disregard for court orders. The C-IRG has faced accusations of harassment, racism and excessive force – allegations the unit’s leadership has denied.

The unit is currently the target of a lawsuit alleging it used “unlawful tactics” to dismantle the Fairy Creek protest, and is also linked to a broader press freedom lawsuit after RCMP officers detained two journalists reporting on police efforts to tear down blockades against the Coastal GasLink pipeline on traditional Wet’suwet’en territory.

Related: ‘I felt kidnapped’: Canada police sued for arresting photographer covering protest

The RCMP oversight body says it will assess whether the unit’s operations are consistent with Canada’s charter of rights and freedoms, as well as recently passed legislation on the United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples. The force has said it will also ensure the unit’s actions align with recommendations from a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

The chair of the oversight group, Michelaine Lahaie, is not part of the RCMP.

The C-IRG unit, staffed with volunteer RCMP officers, was originally formed in 2017 to help resource-extraction protests proceed by breaking up public protest and blockades. The unit has cost nearly C$50m over the past five years, according to CBC News.

The CRCC has the ability to examine the conduct of individual officers to determine if policies or training need to change, the RCMP said.

The RCMP said in a statement it had anticipated the investigation.

“We knew about the possibility for a review and have been working cooperatively to ensure that the CRCC have comprehensive access and a fulsome understanding of the C-IRG’s policies, procedures, practices, guidelines, training and deployments,” Staff Sgt Kris Clark, a media relations officer, said.

HS2 delay will discourage British investment, says infrastructure expert

The High Speed 2 rail project has been beset by delays and cost re-evaluations

Jasper Jolly
Fri, 10 March 2023


The UK’s decision to delay the HS2 rail line will discourage British investment at a time when the US and mainland Europe are pushing forward with major spending on green technology, according to the chair of the National Infrastructure Commission.

Sir John Armitt said the delay to HS2, a high-speed line that aims to increase British rail capacity, contrasted with the heavy investments by the US and EU on decarbonisation.

“That investment is going elsewhere,” Armitt said on BBC Radio 4. “We need all the investment we [can get] in this country. Making these sort of announcements simply dims the prospect and causes uncertainty in people’s minds.”

Joe Biden’s $369bn (£308bn) Inflation Reduction Act has fuelled a subsidy race between the US and EU, leaving the UK scrambling to catch up.

Ministers on Thursday confirmed that HS2 would be delayed. The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said the decision was the result of “significant inflationary pressure and increased project costs”. The delay will spread the cost over a longer period.

Parts of the planned line between Birmingham, Crewe and Manchester will be “rephased” by two years. The line to Crewe may not be open until 2036, and Manchester not until 2043.

Critics of the project point to long delays and the fact that the budget has already grown significantly. Some people affected by construction plans are also opposed. Simon Clarke, the Conservative MP, said he had “serious doubts as to value for money and cost control” on HS2 after scrutinising it at the Treasury.

However, Armitt said the delay would increase the total cost of the project by drawing out the process and prevent businesses from investing.

“It will increase the end cost,” he said. “That impacts the confidence and certainty people have in investing in this country. We’re about levelling up; we’re about competing with the world. We don’t level up, we don’t compete with the world if we create uncertainty.”

Armitt was chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, which oversaw the construction of the venues, facilities and infrastructure for the 2012 Games in London, and in 2013 he wrote an influential review that recommended setting up the commission in order to speed up the construction of big projects.

However, since then the UK’s record of development has been patchy. Meanwhile, the UK’s productivity growth has stagnated since the financial crisis in 2008, and business investment has lagged behind, particularly since the Brexit vote, costing billions in lost potential output.

Armitt said it was not unusual for major infrastructure projects to run over budget, in part because politicians often announced how much it would cost before detailed work was carried out.

“HS2 is an integral part in delivering that long-term success for our transport system, for decarbonisation, and for business growth in this country,” he said.

HS2: All the delays and U-turns on £100bn rail project since it started

The High Speed 2 rail project has been beset by delays and cost re-evaluations ever since it was first put forward in 2009.


Ross McGuinness and Chris Parsons
Fri, March 10, 2023

An artist's impression of a HS2 train. (PA)

The government has announced fresh delays to some sections of the High Speed 2, or HS2, pushing parts of the project back by a further two years.

In a written statement to MPs, Transport Secretary Mark Harper announced the delay of the Birmingham to Crewe leg of HS2, blaming increased costs and inflation.

Phase One of HS2 involves the railway being built between London and Birmingham, with the line extended from the West Midlands to Crewe in Phase 2a.

Phase 2b will connect both Crewe to Manchester and the West Midlands to the East Midlands.

The announcement comes come after HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Thurston said the impact on the project from inflation has been “significant”, adding to the cost of building materials, labour, fuel and energy.

The Transport Secretary also confirmed the government would be prioritising HS2 services between the Midlands and Old Oak Common, suggesting that those using the high speed line to travel from Birmingham to London would still have to complete their journeys into central London using the London Underground, adding time on to their journeys.

The £106bn HS2 project has been beset by delays and cost re-evaluations ever since it was first put forward in 2009.

Work continues on the Colne Valley Viaduct on December 12, in Hillingdon, west London, which will become the longest railway bridge in the UK, as part of the HS2 project. (Getty)

The project has been dogged by criticism over its financial and environmental impact.

In October 2020, levelling up secretary Michael Gove suggested capital investment for HS2 would be reviewed, but Hunt subsequently backed the project.

The target cost of Phase One between London and Birmingham was £40.3bn.

A budget of £55.7 billion for the whole of HS2 was set in 2015, but this has since spiralled to an estimated £72bn-£98bn at 2019 prices. That budget is now likely to be much higher due to rising inflation.

It is just the latest blow to the HS2 project, which has ballooned in cost and angered residents and politicians.

The first phase between London and Birmingham was supposed to open at the end of 2026, but this has been pushed back to between 2029 and 2033. The second phase, originally scheduled to open in 2032, is now expected as late at 2040.
The delays and U-turns of the beleaguered HS2 project:

January 2009

The then Labour government sets up HS2 Ltd to look at the case for building a high-speed railway line.

January 2012

HS2 is given the green light by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, despite concerns about its cost and its impact on the environment. It has an initial budget of £32bn.

June 2013

The projected cost of delivering HS2 rises to £42bn.

An aerial view of the entrance to the Chiltern Tunnels, part of the work on the HS2 network, on 3 November, 2021. (PA)

September 2015

The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee notes that the new projected cost for HS2 is £56bn.

June 2016

The National Audit Office warns the project is already under financial strain and could be delayed by a year.

August 2019

The government announces a review of HS2 which will analyse whether it should continue to go ahead, with the Department for Transport promises a “go or no-go” decision by the end of that year.

The review will be led by former HS2 Ltd chairman Douglas Oakervee.

Later that month, the BBC reports the government and HS2 bosses knew the project was over budget and behind schedule three years previously in 2016.

September 2019

HS2 Ltd chairman Allan Cook says HS2 may not be completed until 2040 and could cost as much as £88bn.

January 2020

The Oakervee Review is delivered and finds that costs have ballooned even more, projecting an overall cost of £106bn.

However, the report finds that the project should continue.

A demonstrator carries a 'Stop HS2' banner during a protest in London. (PA)

That same month, the National Audit Office accuses the government of underestimating the complexity of the project, saying it is impossible to say with certainty just how much the final cost of HS2 could be.

February 2020

Despite the concerns, prime minister Boris Johnson gives another green light to HS2, approving the entire line.

May 2020

MPs say the HS2 project has gone “badly off course” and that further increases in costs cannot be ruled out.

Read more: HS2 costs ‘rose by £1.7bn in past year’

The all-party Public Accounts Committee accused the Department for Transport of hiding information about delays and cost overruns.

September 2020

Formal construction on HS2 begins, with Johnson saying it is an “incredible” project and “crucial for our country”.

September 2021

MPs say there is “no clear end in sight” to the cost and delays of HS2.

An artist's impression of the proposed HS2 station at Euston, London. (PA)

The Public Accounts Committee said it is “increasingly alarmed” about key parts of the project.

October 2021

The government says that dealing with anti-HS2 protests has cost the high speed rail project up to £80m.

Johnson tells the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester that his government “will do Northern Powerhouse Rail, we will link up the cities of the Midlands and the North”.

November 2021

The government is accused of committing a 'great robbery' as Grant Shapps confirms that the eastern leg of HS2 to Leeds has been scrapped.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said Northern Powerhouse Rail – the name given to proposals for an east-to-west high-speed train line across the North – had been “a fraud”.

The government's revised HS2 route, which it announced in November 2021, involved scrapping the route to Leeds. (PA)

July 2022

A £3bn branch of the High Speed 2 network designed to speed up rail journeys between London and Scotland is quietly ditched by ministers, provoking outrage from rail industry groups.

Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham have since held private meetings about the best way to replace the axed Golborne link to take high-speed trains to Scotland.

March 2023

Transport Secretary Mark Harper announces the delay of the Birmingham to Crewe leg of HS2, blaming increased costs and inflation.

In a written statement to MPs, Harper also confirms the government will be prioritising HS2 services between the Midlands and Old Oak Common outside central London, meaning commuters from Birmingham to the capital will have to continue their journeys from the western suburbs using the Tube, adding journey time.

Harper's announcement does not appear to give a definitive date of when HS2 will be completed so people can travel direct into London Euston.