UK

Labour Party Conference 2023

Labour should follow Welsh government and commit to nuclear weapon prohibition, fringe meeting hears


Photo: Egor Myznik / Creative Commons

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2023

LABOUR should follow the example of its government in Wales and commit to signing the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Beth Winter told a packed CND fringe meeting today.

The Cynon Valley MP joined her colleague Bell Ribeiro-Addy in slamming the government’s warped priorities in committing to spend hundreds of billions on nuclear warheads at a time of soaring poverty.

The Senedd voted last year to back the UN treaty, with First Minister Mark Drakeford saying the world needed to get serious about disarmament.

Fire Brigades Union vice-president Steve Wright pointed to the increase in extreme weather events including floods and wildfires, saying firefighters were being called out to more emergencies than ever but cuts had lengthened response times to their longest since the 1980s — yet rather than invest in dealing with the real security threat of climate change, governments insisted on ploughing money into ever more military spending instead.

CND chair Tom Unterrainer said the large attendance showed that despite Sir Keir Starmer’s attempt to suppress discussion of Labour’s militarist stance huge numbers of party members were still committed to nuclear disarmament.

UK

Teachers union calls on Labour to commit to free school meals for all children


Daniel Kebede, then general secretary elect of the National Education Union (NEU), joins a picket line at Regent High School in north west London, as NEU teaching members stage walkouts across England in an ongoing dispute over pay, July 5, 2023

BRITAIN’S biggest teaching union has called on Labour to include a commitment to free school meals for all children in its election manifesto.

The National Education Union (NEU), which represents more than 450,000 teachers, made the appeal as the party’s annual conference continued in Liverpool.

General secretary Daniel Kebede said that, last year, four million children in Britain and Northern Ireland lived in households that went short of food.

“In my 13 years as a teacher, I’ve seen child hunger rise astronomically,” he said.

“The Liberal Democrat and Green parties already back extending free school meals. So do dozens of Labour MPs, peers, mayors and councils.”

The NEU leader accused the Tory government of “failing our children.”

“Free school meals for every child in primary school is a policy [whose] time has come,” he said.

“It’s already being rolled out in Scotland, Wales and now London. It can be done across England too.”

UK

Rail strikes to continue ‘as long as it takes’ to resolve pay dispute

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said at a fringe meeting of the Labour conference that the union was committed to seeing the dispute through.

Alan Jones
1 day ago

Mick Lynch said the union was committed to seeing the dispute through (Lucy North/PA)
(PA Wire)

A rail union leader has pledged to continue with strike action in the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions “for as long as it takes”.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) have been embroiled in the row for over a year, taking a series of strikes which have crippled services.


The RMT is currently re-balloting its members to ask if they want to continue taking industrial action.

General secretary Mick Lynch told a fringe meeting at the Labour Party’s annual conference in Liverpool that the union was committed to seeing the dispute through.

“We will continue with our strike action for as long as it takes.”

He said Labour should be supporting every worker involved in the wave of industrial disputes.

Mr Lynch also said he believes that 98% of people who responded to a consultation on the future of railway ticket offices were opposed to them closing.

Around 750,000 people responded, a record number, showing how strongly passengers felt about the controversial plans to close almost 1,000 ticket offices, he said.

UK

Labour Party Conference 2023

Trade unions welcome Rayner's speech

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2023

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner addresses the Labour Party Women's Conference 2023 in Liverpool, October 7, 2023

TRADE UNIONS welcomed reassurances by Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner that the party is not watering down its plans to bolster workers’ rights

In her speech at the Labour conference today in Liverpool, Ms Rayner said: “I’ve heard some rumours that we’ll be watering down our New Deal for Working People.

“Be in no doubt, not with [Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer] and I at the helm.

“We’ll ban zero-hour contracts, and fire and rehire, and give workers basic rights from day one.

“We’ll go further and faster in closing the gender pay gap, make work more family-friendly and tackle sexual harassment.

“And we won’t stop there. We’ll ensure that unions can stand up for their members.

“We will boost collective bargaining to improve workers’ pay, terms and conditions.”

Ms Rayner also promised Labour would deliver new council homes, strengthen renters’ rights, and abolish leasehold land tenure.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said the plans would improve working lives for millions across Britain.

He said: “It’s the biggest upgrade in workers’ rights in a generation.”

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said Ms Rayner showed that “Labour truly understands the need to make work more secure in a way no Conservative government ever will.”

Rayner’s full 2023 conference speech: ‘We have a plan to make Britain better’

Angela Rayner

8th October, 2023

© Rupert Rivett/Shutterstock.com

Good morning, Liverpool. And welcome. This year’s conference comes at a momentous time for our party and a pivotal moment for our country, just days after Labour’s huge win in Rutherglen. Anas, my friend, we are all so proud of the positive campaign you and Michael ran. Years of hard work led to the people of Rutherglen putting their faith in Labour this week – a watershed moment.

Now, conference – no offence. But I hope this speech is the last one you’ll hear from me, on this podium before the general election. Because just like you, I am sick of being in opposition! When you elected me three and a half years ago, it was the honour of my life. But you didn’t elect me to be deputy leader of the opposition, you elected me to be deputy Prime Minister of a Labour government. One that will transform people’s lives, like the last Labour government changed my own.

Now, we have a great week in store. But it comes after one where we saw the chaotic face of today’s Tory Party. They’ve had quite a year since we last met. The leader who lost to a lettuce. The Chancellor who forgot his own tax return, and forgot to declare it too. Gavin Williamson, forced to resign because it turned out he was a bully. Who knew? Dominic Raab… also forced to resign as a bully. I think everyone knew that one… Except the Prime Minister, apparently.

Then there was the Home Secretary, sacked as a threat to national security. The same Home Secretary, reappointed the next week. I think they call that ‘time served’. Apparently, she believes in the rehabilitation of offenders after all. Now we have the Prime Minister refusing to hand over his WhatsApp messages. I assume Jacob Rees-Mogg has also refused to hand over his carrier pigeon.

Throughout all of it, the Prime Minister simply can’t stand up for the country against his party. Apparently, he’s planning another reshuffle. Maybe that’s why he thinks we were offering him seven different bins for different kinds of rubbish. And at their conference, Liz Truss was back. So one thing did become clear, we all know that he’s just Ken in her Barbie-world!

What a contrast we are to the Tories. With Keir at the helm, Labour’s shadow cabinet is hungry for change. And I might be biased, but I think my team are shining stars. I lead a formidable frontbench with Matt, Sarah, Flo, Paula, Mike, Nav, Mary, Sharon, Sue and Waj. With Justin and Imran leading on our New Deal for Working People. I also want to pay tribute to the woman who paved the way for Labour’s bold housing and levelling up vision with grit and determination – Lisa Nandy.

Tories have ‘dragged Britain down’ and are ‘holding us back’

The reality is Labour is already delivering in power. From our elected mayors, our local authority leaders or the Labour government in Wales. Our movement has never been so united, so focused. Around one aim. To give Britain its future back. But the Tories also have one singular focus. To desperately cling onto power.

That’s why the Tories’ levelling up project was dead on arrival. You cannot level up from the top down. The Tories only know how to centralise power and hold wealth where it benefits them. And it’s under their watch, the places that once built Britain have been abandoned. Communities crumbling. High streets emptying. Crime rising. Streets that were once bursting with pride. Shut down. Boarded up. Denied a brighter future. Rents skyrocketing. Mortgages soaring. Where work doesn’t pay. There’s that lingering sense that Britain is broken. Collateral damage from the swing of the Tories’ wrecking ball.

For the Conservatives, “growth” isn’t for everyone. It means jobs for the boys. A free ride for vested interests. The super-rich. Non-doms. Water bosses. But our proud United Kingdom that once spearheaded the industrial world was not a trickle-down nation. It was a country where innovation and growth rose up from the ports, factories and warehouses… In Hartlepool, Humber and Teesside. In my lifetime, growth used to be in the hands of the workers and the communities that built Britain. From their graft, came wealth.

But today, working people are grafting while ministers sit in their ivory tower in Whitehall. The truth is – and I’m not afraid to say it – a responsible government recognises their role in providing stability in people’s lives. But stability has been smashed at the hands of this Prime Minister. Who, in his conference speech, spent an hour rallying against plots and controversies that don’t exist. 

Worshipping at the altar of Liz Truss.

A government that has gone off the rails – quite literally in the North! The Prime Minister’s speech didn’t even mention ‘housing’ once. No doubt that’s because his housing policy is the same as his new smoking policy – increase the price year on year, so eventually no one can buy!

The truth is, looking down from his private jet, Rishi Sunak can’t understand why young people can’t get on the housing ladder. Don’t forget – this is the man who boasted about snatching taxpayer’s money from deprived areas and funnelling it into wealthy ones. He tells working people they’re just lacking aspiration – They aren’t working hard enough.

All while people are kept up at night by the pit in their stomach about whether their pay cheque will cover the bills, or be enough to keep a roof over their heads. Or whether their children will ever earn enough to be free from the same anxiety which keeps them up at night.

That’s because Rishi Sunak and his party have taken a sledgehammer to the foundations on which a good life can be built. And now the simple things in life are crumbling. A decent job. A secure, affordable home. And a strong community. Simple things this government has snatched away from working people. Conference, we can’t go on like this any longer. The Tories are not only talking Britain down. They’ve dragged us down. And they’re holding us back.

Labour will grow the economy everywhere and devolve new powers

This is why Labour’s first and most important mission in government is to grow the economy. Growth – under a Labour government – will be in all places for all people. Growth in the hands of the communities and people that built Britain. To once again provide decent work, secure homes and strong communities. To truly level up our country.

Building a strong community doesn’t mean making everywhere look the same. It means real choices put in people’s hands. Giving powers to our elected local leaders – the people who know their communities best. New devolved powers on skills, employment support, transport, and of course, new housing.

This is how Labour will give local people control of their futures. We know this can and will work, because the march to devolution of the last Labour government has been an almighty success. Our mayors, Sadiq, Andy, Steve and Tracy continue to champion locally-controlled transport, delivering cheaper tickets at a time when everything is getting more expensive. Mark Drakeford, our First Minister for Wales, has shown the power of devolved leadership on skills, with bold action to ensure young people across Wales have access to work, education and training.

We seek power so we can hand it back to the people. That is the Labour way. It belongs to them – not us. But that also means recognising who is in the engine room of Britain’s economy. Labour has a long and proud history of being the party of working people. And the party for working people.

Because we believe everyone deserves a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. And to have enough spare at the end of the month to enjoy the fruits of their labour. For bread and yes, roses too.

But under the Conservatives too often work doesn’t pay. The Tories’ low-wage economy, stagnant productivity and tumbling business investment. Everything about this is bad for workers, bad for businesses and bad for our economy.

‘I will table legislation implementing our New Deal within 100 days’

Now, conference. I’m proud that the last Labour government created the national minimum wage. Back then the Tories hated it, they said it would crash the economy. How wrong they were. But so much of Labour’s progress has since been reversed. Young adult workers are getting a raw deal, when their bills are as high as everyone else’s. There’s no doubt we need to raise the floor on wages – and build lasting change.

But it’s only Labour that can make work pay. With a genuine living wage that working people can actually live on. We will change the Low Pay Commission’s remit so that the minimum wage will for the first time take account of the cost of living.

Conference, I’ve heard some rumours that we’ll be watering down our New Deal for Working People. Be in no doubt, not with Keir and I at the helm. We’ll ban zero-hour contracts. End fire and rehire. And give workers basic rights from day one. We’ll go further and faster in closing the gender pay gap. Make work more family friendly. And tackle sexual harassment. And we won’t stop there. We’ll ensure that unions can stand up for their members. We will boost collective bargaining, to improve workers’ pay, terms and conditions.

Make no mistake, this is an agenda that we will deliver hand in hand with the trade union movement. As we will work with business too. Because they know a good modern labour market is good for growth. Labour’s New Deal for Working People is our plan to boost wages, make work more secure and support working people to thrive. This is how Labour will make work pay! And this is what Keir has asked me to do. The work has already started.

But it can only be completed with Labour in power – and as deputy Prime Minister, I will personally table the legislation implementing our New Deal, within 100 days of taking office. Let no one doubt our determination. And I have no fear of winning that argument in an election either. Last week, the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West voted to make work pay. Let’s give the people of our whole country the chance to do the same.

Biggest boost in affordable and social housing for a generation

But conference, good wages and protections aren’t enough if every penny goes simply on keeping a roof over your head, if you live in damp, cramped housing – or have no home at all. Safe, secure, affordable housing is no longer the foundation on which people can rely. That foundation of a good life – decent wages, strong communities, and affordable homes – crumbles in Tory Britain. Too many people are stuck paying unaffordable private rents. Or living the nightmare of a home wrapped in flammable cladding.

While leaseholders linger in a system left over from the Middle Ages, the dream of homeownership is slipping away as more than a million families wait for social housing. Over the last 13 years, Tory Ministers sold or demolished more than double the number of social homes than they’ve delivered. Families who need a council house are often stuck in cramped temporary accommodation or at the mercy of private landlords. And this summer Michael Gove handed back almost £2bn destined for affordable housing to the Treasury… because he couldn’t spend it.

A Labour government will right this wrong. We know a secure home, like a secure job, is a crucial foundation for a good life. That’s why we will get social homes built, brick by brick. Building not just homes, but also communities. And I’ll get out my hard hat and hi-vis if needs be!

I pledge to you today, Keir and I will deliver the biggest boost in affordable and social housing for a generation. And conference, that includes council housing! The Tories look down on people living in social housing. Well I say, let’s stare right back. And never be ashamed. A council house changed my life.

And so here’s what Labour is going to do. We’ll start by salvaging the system that the Tories have taken a sledgehammer to. Where the Tories have snatched billions from affordable housing, Labour will unlock government grants to deliver new homes by making the affordable homes programme more flexible so that every penny gets out the door to build the homes people need. And by working with the local leaders – who know their areas best – we’ll use these funds more effectively.

Second, we will strengthen the rules to prevent developers from wriggling out of their responsibilities and we will speed up the building of new social and affordable housing. We will do this by reforming the planning system. Elected local leaders will be given the powers they need to stand up to vested interests in building new developments, through a specialist government take back control unit that will work with them to rebalance the scales.

And, conference, we will provide stability and certainty for the affordable and social housing market so there is confidence to invest. Affordable, social and council houses aren’t just a nice add on. They’re fundamental to securing decent homes for all. A hammer to smash the class ceiling. And a lynchpin of the economy. They are quicker to occupy and build, and to get the growth we need. Creating reliable, well-paid, and highly skilled jobs in the process.

But that’s not all. Labour will achieve rental reform where the Tories have failed for four and a half years. Finishing the job by banning ‘no fault’ evictions. We’ll give first-time buyers ‘first dibs’ on new developments in their communities. With a comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme for those who don’t have access to the bank of mum and dad. We’ll end the mediaeval leasehold system, with root-and-branch reforms. We will deliver planning reform to build the houses the next generation so desperately needs.

It’s Labour that is the party of home ownership. Because we understand what it means. To make your home. To start a family. To get on in life. And I know the difference a decent wage and a secure home can have.

‘We have a plan to make Britain better’

It was a Labour government that introduced the minimum wage that improved my income. A Labour government built council houses. I got the keys to my first home, to security. A Labour government introduced equal pay. I started saving money. The Labour government took me from a council estate to the parliamentary estate. And that’s where my Labour values come from. And my confidence to succeed.

Ever since those days – to all those people who’ve underestimated me throughout my life – I’ve always said: ‘Watch this space’. So, I say to anyone who feels written off or looked down on. I’ve got your back. Labour is on your side.

Conference, the Tories last week not only showed they’re not on your side. They showed they’re not fit to govern. It’s not just that they don’t have a plan – frankly, they haven’t got a clue. They can’t solve the country’s problems. Because they are the problem. They’ve broken Britain. And left working people paying the price. We don’t just know Britain can be better than this. We have a plan to make it better. Not short-term sticking plaster solutions, but a mission-driven government.

So you’ll see that plan from us this week. A different kind of economy. Where better living standards for all are how we drive growth… And why we drive growth. That repairs and revives our broken public services and provides a secure job, decent pay, a strong community and a home of your own. The foundations on which a good life is built.

Conference, earlier I quoted one of the great anthems of our movement. It was a woman trade unionist, Helen Todd, who first demanded bread, and roses too. A century ago, she wanted the right to vote. And something worth voting for. In her words, that bread and roses be “the heritage of every child that is born in this country, in the government of which she has a voice.”

Conference, our mission as a movement is the same now as it was then. So let us fulfil it. Let’s make that our legacy for every child in our country once more. And let us be the government where they can find their voice and follow their dreams Thank you.


Angela Rayner
Angela Rayner is deputy leader of the Labour Party, Shadow Deputy Prime Minister, Strategic Lead for Labour’s New Deal for Working People, and Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and MP for Ashton-under-Lyne

U.K. Supreme Court weighs if it’s lawful for Britain to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda

The Supreme Court entrance is photographed in London

By Brian Melley - Associated Press - Sunday, October 8, 2023

LONDON — The British government’s contentious policy to stem the flow of migrants faces one of its toughest challenges this week as the U.K. Supreme Court weighs whether it’s lawful to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda.

The Conservative government is challenging a Court of Appeal ruling in June that said the policy intended to deter immigrants from risking their lives crossing the English Channel in small boats is unlawful because the East African country is not a safe place to send them.

Three days of arguments are scheduled to begin Monday with the government arguing its policy is safe and lawyers for migrants from Vietnam, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Sudan contending it’s unlawful and inhumane.

The hearing comes as much of Europe and the U.S. struggle with how best to cope with migrants seeking refuge from war, violence, oppression and a warming planet that has brought devastating drought and floods.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to “stop the boats” as a top priority to curb unauthorized immigration. More than 25,000 people are estimated to have arrived in the U.K. by boat as of Oct. 2, which is down nearly 25% from the 33,000 that had made the crossing at the same time last year.

The policy is intended to put a stop to the criminal gangs that ferry migrants across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes by making Britain an unattractive destination because of the likelihood of being given a one-way ticket to Rwanda.

Consequences of the crossing have been deadly. In August, six migrants died and about 50 had to be rescued when their boat capsized after leaving the northern coast of France. In November 2021, 27 people died after their boat sank.

The government claims the policy is a fair way to deal with an influx of people who arrive on U.K. shores without authorization and that Rwanda is a safe “third country” — meaning it’s not where they are seeking asylum from.

The U.K. and Rwandan governments reached a deal more than a year ago that would send asylum-seekers to the East African country and allow them to stay there if granted asylum.

So far, not a single person has been sent there as the policy has been fought over in the courts.

Human rights groups have argued its inhumane to deport people more than 4,000 miles to a place they don’t want to live. They have also cited Rwanda’s poor human rights record, including allegations of torture and killings of government opponents.

A High Court judge initially upheld the policy, saying it didn’t breach Britain’s obligations under the U.N. Refugee Convention or other international agreements. But that ruling was reversed by a 2-1 decision in the Court of Appeal that found that while it was not unlawful to send asylum-seekers to a safe third country, Rwanda could not be deemed safe.

The government argues the Court of Appeal had no right to interfere with the lower court decision and got it wrong by concluding deportees would be endangered in Rwanda and could face the prospect of being sent back to their home country where they could face persecution. The U.K. also says that the court should have respected the government’s analysis that determined Rwanda is safe and and that its government would abide by the terms of the agreement to protect migrants’ rights.

Attorneys for the migrants argue that there is a real risk their clients could be tortured, punished, or face inhumane and degrading treatment in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and they cite Rwanda’s history of abusing refugees for dissent. The second flank of their argument is that the home secretary did not thoroughly investigate how Rwanda determines the status of refugees.

One of the claimants asserts that the U.K. must still abide by European Union asylum procedures despite its Brexit split from the EU that became final in 2020. EU policies only allow asylum-seekers to be sent to a safe third country if they have a connection to it.

Even if the courts allow the policy to proceed, it’s unclear how many people will be flown to Rwanda at a cost estimated to be $206,000 per person.

And there’s a chance it wouldn’t be in place for long. The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, said Sunday that he would scrap the policy if elected prime minister.

Polls show Labour has an advantage in an election that must be called by the end of next year.

“I think it’s the wrong policy, it’s hugely expensive,” Starmer told the BBC.

The court is not expected to rule immediately after the hearing.

UK has ‘become the jurisdiction of choice for people with dirty money’, Labour conference hears

Basit Mahmood Today


Last year, Transparency International estimated £6.7bn of UK property had been bought with dirty money.

The UK has become the ‘jurisdiction of choice for people with dirty money’, a fringe event on ending the UK’s dirty money problem has heard at Labour Party conference.

Labour MP Margaret Hodge, the chair of the APPG on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax, told the audience that she blamed both main parties for the UK becoming a hotbed of dirty money and that ‘deregulation had not helped’, as she called on the next Labour government to make tackling dirty money a high priority issue.

Last year, Transparency International estimated £6.7bn of UK property had been bought with dirty money.

Hodge told those gathered at the event, which also featured Labour MP Liam Byrne and Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Kensington & Bayswater Joe Powell, that there were 4 main ways to tackle the UK’s dirty money problem.

She highlighted the importance of smart regulation, not just for its own sake but regulation that works as well as the need for greater transparency to be able to follow the money.

Hodge also highlighted that enforcement was crucial, as regulations and tougher laws were no good without having good regulation, calling for the National Crime Agency to be beefed up and funded properly for it to be able to carry out its duties.

The MP for Barking also called for greater accountability, with the event told that

prosecutions for money laundering have declined by 56% since 2010.

With the Labour Party ahead in the polls, attention has turned to what an incoming Labour government should do when in office to crack down on dirty money and its flow in the UK.

Liam Byrne MP told the audience that ‘all of us on this platform are fighting legal actions from bad people who are using the English legal system to shut down free speech and democratically elected politicians’.

He told the event that three things needed to happen from the Labour Party to tackle dirty money. He called for greater transparency with ‘a disinfectant of sunlight running through the money coming through this country’.

Byrne also said that we needed to be able to harness the power of civil society and journalists and ‘stop English courts being used to shut down journalists so that crimes of an economic nature could be reported’.

He also added that enforcement agencies had to be ‘geared up to do the job they need to do’.

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward

UK

‘Full HS2 is essential. Labour should keep its options open and not sell off land’

Darren Caplan & Susan Evans

Twitter/@birmingham_live

Share this article:

This week’s news that the Government wants to scrap HS2 Phase 2 is a devastating blow to the North, the Midlands, the railway industry and the whole UK economy.

For 15 years rail businesses employing thousands of people and investing billions of pounds, have worked with the Government to develop this project – their project – to take it from a concept to construction. Companies have invested in those people, skills and equipment, on the back of it, with some even relocating in anticipation of it being completed.

It is true the costs of the project have risen over those 15 years. In recent years inflation has been rampant in the UK economy and the construction sector has been impacted far more than most.

But the principal cause of any real term increases lies in the chopping and changing of the project’s scope, with the announcement by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday 4 October, that the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 was to be scrapped being the fourth major change by the Government in just three years.

Previously, the Eastern Leg to Leeds and the Golborne Link enabling High Speed trains to get to and from Scotland, were cancelled, and recently the route from Old Oak Common to Euston was paused.

This is the biggest most damaging U-turn in UK infrastructure history

As any project manager will tell you, the cheapest way to deliver is against a fixed scope without constant changes. This is the biggest and most damaging U-turn in the history of UK infrastructure.

What we are left with now is a plan for a London-Birmingham-Manchester railway that will not deliver the transformational benefits that the north of England needs. Indeed, the solution proposed by the Prime Minister is a recipe for disaster.

Merging HS2 trains onto existing lines at Birmingham will create a huge bottleneck, akin to the M40 merging onto an A-road and then a country lane – rather than the M6. Rail connectivity to the north will be worse than it is today.
That is why it is inconceivable that HS2 will not eventually reach Manchester.

So the industry recommits to delivering Phase 1 from London to Birmingham as efficiently as it can, whilst continuing to make the case that this should be just the beginning of a network that reaches Manchester, Leeds, and many more cities. We in the rail industry stand ready to work on those future developments.

The proposed investment through ‘Network North’ needs to be considered carefully, and any rail schemes assured in the project pipeline would of course be welcome. But cancelling Phase 2 of HS2 frees up just £1-3 billion in the next five years, meaning any improvements are still far over the horizon.

It can’t be a choice between HS2 and other projects

If we want to truly level up our country, it cannot be a choice between HS2 and other projects. We need 21st century infrastructure, bringing all of our cities closer together. HS2 is the key foundation for that network, creating much more capacity in UK rail than exists today.

Every other major European country has managed to build a high-speed rail network, recognising it as a vital part of a modern society and economy for years to come. We’d like to think the UK still could too.

That’s why we are calling on Labour, indeed all politicians with a say in these matters, to commit to three things:

1. Keep options open for the future. The new ‘Network North’ proposals are not a clear or sufficient plan. New rail links providing much more capacity, between Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds – and more – will all need to happen one day.

2. Safeguard the route. If the Birmingham-Manchester route can continue to be safeguarded, then we can still build the capacity that the railway will need when public finances allow.

3. Don’t sell off the land. A rushed land sale will be poor value for money for taxpayers.

Ultimately, delivering the full HS2 is essential for the UK economy, connectivity, levelling up and decarbonisation ambitions for the years ahead.

UK
Medics criticise Labour’s plan to use voluntary overtime to clear NHS waiting lists

Doctors and nurses warn NHS already running on ‘goodwill’ and demand ‘proper’ pay rise

Sir Keir Starmer has said Labour will provide £1.1bn to pay for more doctors and nurses overtime (Photo: Jeff Moore/PA)

By Richard Vaughan
October 8, 2023 
Doubts have been raised over Labour’s plan to pay doctors and nurses more to work overtime in an attempt to bring down NHS waiting lists.

Medics warned that the plan, which will lead to an extra £1.1bn in funding being pumped into the health system, is unlikely to work as it relies on an already overstretched workforce.

Sir Keir Starmer announced the plans on Sunday, which he said would be funded by scrapping the non-domiciled tax status, and will enable the NHS to provide an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments in the first year.

The proposals rely on doctors and nurses volunteering for working more night shifts and weekends, but the Labour leader said it would help to ease their own workloads despite the payments being lower than in the private sector.

Sir Keir told the BBC that doctors “will probably get more (money) in the private sector” but he believed they would do overtime for the NHS “because they want to bring down the waiting list as well”.

NHS staff “are up for this because they know that bringing down the waiting list will reduce the pressure on them in the long run”, he said.

He told the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: “They want to do this just as much as we do and it is desperately needed.

“We need growth in our economy, we need to raise living standards across the country. We will never do that with the mess that this Government has made of the NHS.”

Related Article   

HEALTH
NHS staff plead for patients to be collected as hospitals fill up during strikesRead More

But one consultant doctor in Newcastle told i that there would be “little appetite for staff to carry out more weekend work than we already do”.

It came as the British Medical Association said that paying health workers for more overtime was not a substitute for paying them a proper wage.

BMA council chairman Professor Philip Banfield said the “vast majority of doctors already take on extra work”.

“For far too long, it has been our goodwill keeping the health service afloat,” he added. “While this move may very well incentivise further overtime, it is only once doctors receive restoration of lost relative value will we be in a position to look at the impact that this extra overtime funding may have on waiting lists.”

Royal College of Nursing chief nurse Professor Nicola Ranger said: “Nursing staff work so much overtime that is never paid – staying behind an hour or two after 12-hour shifts to keep patients safe – so a change in this culture is needed.”

But ultimately, she said, hundreds of thousands more nursing staff could be needed.

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The NHS needs all the help it can get. This is fine as a stop-gap measure, but this is all it must be.

“Health workers are already up against it and there are only so many hours in a day. But a voluntary scheme, where staff are paid fairly, that avoids the use of expensive agencies, makes sense in the short-term.”

RCN criticises Sir Keir Starmer's plan to use more overtime to cut NHS waiting lists

The Royal College of Nursing said there needed to be a "change" to the culture of overtime as it called on Labour to recruit more staff.

Alexandra Rogers
Political reporter @Journoamrogers
Sunday 8 October 2023 


Nursing union leaders have criticised Sir Keir Starmer's plan to cut waiting lists by encouraging staff to work overtime - saying "too often the NHS runs on the goodwill of staff".

The Labour leader said he would pump an extra £1.1bn into the NHS to allow staff to work evening and weekend shifts.

He said his overtime plan would enable the health service to provide an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments in the first year of a Labour government.

The current NHS waiting list stands at around 7.7 million people.

But the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which represents 500,000 members, was critical of the proposals, arguing nursing staff already work "so much overtime that is never paid" and that a "change in this culture is needed".

"As part of their shift patterns, weekend work is routine for many," the union said.

"Any Labour government would likely take office at a time of record unfilled nurse jobs, in excess of 40,000, and so the long-term answer is of course to have more staff overall.

"When many nurses already work additional full days to make ends meet financially, extra capacity is urgently required.

"Nursing staff must feel valued by fair pay and treatment - there is no other way to boost staffing levels and give patients the treatment they deserve."

However, the plan received a warmer welcome from Unison, whose general secretary, Christina McAnea, said: "This is fine as a stop-gap measure, but this is all it must be.

"Health workers are already up against it and there are only so many hours in a day. But a voluntary scheme, where staff are paid fairly, that avoids the use of expensive agencies, makes sense in the short-term."

The British Medical Association (BMA) added: "Paying doctors properly for overtime is not only the right thing to do but would be more cost effective than using the private sector or making extracontractual payments.

"While this move may very well incentivise further overtime, it is only once doctors receive restoration of lost relative value, will we be in a position to look at the impact that this extra overtime funding may have on waiting lists."

The Labour leader defended his plan and argued that doctors would sign up for extra weekend despite being able to earn more in the private sector.

He told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg doctors "will probably get more [money] in the private sector" but he believed they would work overtime for the NHS "because they want to bring down the waiting list as well".

He was supported by Wes Streeting, shadow health secretary, who rejected suggestions Sir Keir's proposals were "wishful thinking", saying it would be "voluntary" for staff and that they would be "paid fairly".

Asked by Sir Trevor Phillips on Sky News' Sunday Morning whether he recognised that NHS staff were already suffering from burnout and exhaustion, he said: "The two reassurances I can offer is firstly, this is not compulsion. This is voluntary. Staff will be given the choice to opt in.

"The second reassurance is that the reason we've adopted this approach is because it's an approach that has already been shown to be working in some London hospitals.

"It's a credible plan, it's workable. It will create two million more appointments a year and that will be game-changing in terms of getting waiting lists down and busting the Tory backlog."

Sir Keir's intervention comes as he faces criticism from union bosses for not providing a more bold policy offer to the electorate.

Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, accused Labour of being "too timid" and warned it against "limping into Number 10", while Mick Lynch, the boss of the RMT rail union, also told Sky News: "There's no point in being timid or hiding your light under a bushel.

"People need something to vote for, not just something to vote against."

SCOTLAND
‘Profiting from pain’: Staffing agencies made millions from the NHS

Billy BriggsandPetra Matijevic
October 8, 2023


Private firms supplying medical staff to NHS Scotland have made millions of pounds of profit and paid some directors up to £800,000 as the health service struggles, we can reveal.

An investigation by The Ferret also found some recruitment agencies are owned in tax havens and that millions of pounds have been paid out in dividends to shareholders.

Due to staffing shortages nurses have reportedly been offered £2000 a shift by agencies supplying NHS Scotland.

We Own It – a public ownership campaign group – said it was “disgraceful” that private firms are “profiting from pain” while Scottish Labour said The Ferret’s revelations were “deeply worrying”.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation, which represents UK recruitment businesses, said agencies play a vital role and “help keep the heart of the NHS ticking by providing health workers around-the-clock to plug gaps”.

The Scottish Government said “new controls” were introduced in April to “gradually reduce” the number of shifts being filled by agency nursing staff.

Staff shortages are a major problem facing the NHS, making it a battle to fill hospital rotas.

Vacant shifts are initially offered internally as overtime, before being offered to an internal “bank” of NHS workers able to work ad hoc. If there are no takers, the shift is offered to agency staff on capped rates and, failing that, advertised to uncapped agency workers.


Every penny of public money spent lining the pockets of overpaid private directors and shareholders is wasted.Johnbosco Nwogbo, We Own It

The Ferret examined NHS boards’ expenditure disclosures between April 2021 and December 2022 to reveal the companies most frequently used to source nurses and locums, someone who temporarily fills a rota gap within a hospital, clinic or practice.

Scotland’s health boards collectively spent £985m on agency workers between 2021 and 2023. NHS Scotland spending on agency workers includes medical and dental staff of all specialities working in hospitals and GP practices. We were able to account for £100m spent on agency staffing from the expenditure reports. Reports have to include all expenses over £25,000.

The top agencies providing medical staff in between 2021 and 2022 include Scottish Nursing Guild, which was paid £25.7m by NHS Scotland. It is part of Acacium Group, owned by the Canadian private equity firm, Onex.

Acacium Group Holdings Limited is registered in Jersey and earned £748m in revenue from placing temporary staff in 2021. Its total revenue was £851m and the highest paid director received £609,000 that year. NHS Lanarkshire paid SNG £18.8m while NHS Greater Glasgow paid £7.3m.

Locum People, owned by Cook Recruitment Group Ltd, earned nearly £4m from NHS Grampian. Cook Recruitment Group’s latest accounts, for the end of February 2021, show a turnover of £39.6m and an operating profit of £1.1m. Its three directors received £422,000 in salaries combined. Its accounts show £339,000 was paid out in dividends.

ID Medical Group earned £4.3m from NHS Grampian. Its latest accounts for the year ended 31 March showed an operating profit of £2.3m and its highest paid director received £814,025. Dividends to shareholders amounted to £1.1m. The firm provides acute hospital doctors, GPs, community doctors, and psychiatrists, among other medical staff.

Those concerned over the sums paid to private firms include Johnbosco Nwogbo, a campaigner with We Own It, who argued that the Scottish Government must commit to “reinstate our NHS as a fully public, properly funded service”. He claimed that “every penny of public money spent lining the pockets of overpaid private directors and shareholders is wasted”.

“The truth is that investing in the NHS will always provide better value. Now more than ever we need to be directing money towards our NHS, not the private firms bleeding it dry,” Nwogo added. “This latest investigation by The Ferret goes to show that we can’t trust private companies anywhere near our health service. The Scottish Government told us in May that they are ‘absolutely committed’ to opposing the role of the private sector in our NHS. Now we need to see them put that into practice: nothing to that effect was said in Humza Yousaf’s recent programme for government.”

Scottish Labour MSP Jackie Baillie said that a “lack of a sustainable workforce plan and the volume of vacancies” means the SNP are taking a “sticking plaster approach that allows private companies to charge such obscene prices” for nurses.

“This highlights exactly why it is so vital that the staffing crisis in our NHS is tackled. The SNP must make this a priority and start by filling the 7,000 vacancies currently in our NHS,” Baillie added.

This highlights exactly why it is so vital that the staffing crisis in our NHS is tackled. The SNP must make this a priority.Jackie Baillie MSP, Scottish Labour

Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Lib Dems’ health spokesperson, said the NHS should be “run for the benefit of its patients, not for the benefit of private equity firms out to make a profit”.

“There are huge numbers of vacancies in everything from mental health to general practice. Humza Yousaf failed to tackle this as health secretary. He must do a far better job as first minister,” he added.

However, Kate Shoesmith, deputy chief executive at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, said agencies are vital to the NHS and that the “growth in demand” for temporary staff is down to “successive governments’ inability to come up with the right workforce plan” for the NHS.

She argued that “many healthcare workers want a greater work/life balance, and so choose to work in a temporary way”. Shoesmith added: “There are caps and controls on agency margins in the NHS – and they haven’t been reviewed or increased in years.

“Agency workers are still health workers, and the cost of their shifts is mainly made up of the worker’s salary because an agency fee on framework is capped at around 10 per cent of the hourly rate for a nurse. It is worth reflecting that much of the increase in temporary workforce spend since the pandemic is down to NHS staffing banks and off-framework providers who are not restricted by pay caps.”

Matt Fryer, managing director of Brookson Group, said his firm provides “compliance, payroll, and accounting services” to a wide range of industries. “Our services allow hirers to compliantly engage contract workers who play a vital role in the continuous delivery of their operations,” he added.

“We are not a recruitment agency, we do not source workers and we do not set the pay rates for contract workers. The sum quoted from NHS Tayside includes wages paid to locum doctors and other flexible workers, as well as any necessary fees for payroll processing, provision of vendor management software and compliance and legal advice.”

ID Medical Group told The Ferret it is “acutely aware of the challenges the NHS faces, and continually strives to provide support and services to alleviate the pressures experienced by trusts” throughout the UK. A spokesperson added: “Our solutions have saved NHS trusts millions of pounds. We fulfil immediate contingent staffing needs to support patient safety, whilst also recruiting permanent employees for long-term fill.

“And the provision of temporary staff is only one part of our service offering. our other offerings include permanent recruitment, clinical service provision, and workforce management. All of these services successfully assist NHS trusts in reducing their overall spend and reliance on agency staff.

A Scottish Government spokesperson claimed Scotland had “historically high levels of staff in our NHS and in March last year”, adding that ministers published the National Health and Social Care Workforce Strategy, which sets out a “long-term vision for achieving a sustainable health and social care workforce”.

The spokesperson continued: “We are delivering long-term, sustainable interventions on wellbeing, leadership and equalities, to support staff and improve staff retention and service recovery. The majority of temporary staffing come from staff banks; these are NHS staff, working on NHS terms and conditions. New controls were introduced by boards from 1 April in order to gradually reduce the number of shifts being filled by agency nursing staff and from 1 June boards are no longer using off-framework agencies such as SNG, unless in exceptional circumstances.”

All the above firms were asked to comment.

In March, The Ferret revealed that private health firms operating in Scotland were charging up to £250 for 15-minute GP appointments. The companies – which include subsidiaries of US corporations – run private hospitals and clinics.

The top agencies providing medical staff in 2021-22 include Scottish Nursing Guild, which was paid £25.7m by NHS Scotland. It is part of Acacium Group, owned by the Canadian private equity firm, Onex.

Acacium Group Holdings Limited is registered in Jersey and earned £748m in revenue from placing temporary staff in 2021. Its total revenue was £851m and the highest paid director received £609,000 that year. NHS Lanarkshire paid SNG £18.8m while NHS Greater Glasgow paid £7.3m.

Acacium Group Holdings Limited is registered in Jersey and earned £748m in revenue from placing temporary staff in 2021. Its total revenue was £851m and the highest paid director received £609,000 that year. NHS Lanarkshire paid SNG £18.8m while NHS Greater Glasgow paid £7.3m.

Locum People, owned by Cook Recruitment Group Ltd, earned nearly £4m from NHS Grampian. Cook Recruitment Group’s latest accounts, for the end of February 2021, show a turnover of £39.6m and an operating profit of £1.1m. Its three directors received £422,000 in salaries combined. Its accounts show £339,000 was paid out in dividends.

ID Medical Group earned £4.3m from NHS Grampian. Its latest accounts for the year ended 31 March showed an operating profit of £2.3m and its highest paid director received £814,025. Dividends to shareholders amounted to £1.1m. The firm provides acute hospital doctors, GPs, community doctors, and psychiatrists, among other medical staff.

A recruitment agency called Brookson Solutions Ltd – bought in 2022 by a US multinational called People2.0 – was paid £1.9m by NHS Tayside. The firm made a pre-tax profit of £1.5m for the year ending 30 September 2021.

Interact Medical – based in Milton Keynes – earned £3.4m from NHS Grampian. The company paid out £1.6m in dividends in 2021 and its highest paid director got £234,000. Its operating profit was £2.2m.

Retinue Solutions is headquartered in London and earned £3.3m from NHS Lanarkshire and £387,392 from NHS Forth Valley. It is part of nGAGE Specialist Recruitment Limited which made an operating profit of £17.7m for the period 3 April 2021 to 1 April 2022. Its highest paid director received £584,000. In 2021 Retinue received £3.6m from the UK Government’s furlough scheme. Westminster Topco is the ultimate parent firm.


This Ferret story was also published with Sunday National. Our partnerships with other media help us reach new audiences and become more sustainable as a media co-op. Join us to read all our stories and tell us what we should investigate next.

Sinn Féin refusing to take down billboard calling for united Ireland despite civil service instruction

‘Propaganda’ at Newry roundabout has been condemned by local politicians



Sinn Féin billboards have been investigated. Photo: David Conachy




Sinn Féin billboard has caused controversy. Photo: David Conachy




A Sinn Féin billboard in the Newry area. Photo: David Conachy




Sinn Féin billboards have been investigated. Photo: David Conachy




Sinn Féin billboard has caused controversy. Photo: David Conachy

Hugh O'Connell

Today

Sinn Féin has refused to take down a billboard calling for a united Ireland at the junction of a busy roundabout in Newry despite being instructed to do so by Northern Ireland civil servants.

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI), which was occupied by a Sinn Féin minister up until October last year, contacted the party earlier this year asking it to remove the billboard beside the Egyptian Arch railway bridge just off the Camlough Road Roundabout in Newry.

However, the billboard — which states “A United Ireland is for Everyone. Let’s Talk About It” and includes the Sinn Féin logo — was still up when the Sunday Independent visited the site last Friday.

The erection of Sinn Féin billboards at busy road junctions across South Armagh has angered some local politicians from other parties.

Read more
Máiría Cahill: ‘Republicanism has different morals from the rest of us’

​The DfI, which owns the site in question, has also confirmed it is investigating whether Sinn Féin has legally erected another billboard promoting the party at another of its sites at the Doran’s Hill junction in Newry.

Separately, the Northern Ireland public transport company Translink said it has taken “appropriate action” over another Sinn Féin billboard at a road junction by the Cloughoge railway bridge in Newry.

In a DfI letter sent to a local politician, who asked not to be named, on September 7, an official confirmed that “those responsible for erecting the current ‘advertising’ have been asked to remove the billboard” at the Camlough Road Roundabout.

The local politician had written to the department’s permanent secretary in mid-August about the billboard which was erected in the same location where a billboard remembering the late Noah Donohoe, a 14-year-old who died in Belfast in 2020, had previously been placed.

The politician, who would not speak on the record for fear of a local backlash, said there had been “a complete proliferation of Sinn Féin propaganda all over Newry City and South Armagh”.

A DfI spokesperson said: “The Department has contacted Sinn Féin regarding the removal of the billboard on DfI property at the Camlough Road Roundabout/Egyptian Arch.

“The department has not been in contact with Sinn Féin regarding a billboard at Doran’s Hill but will now investigate and decide if any action is required.”

Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd, the North’s former acting first minister, was briefly the minister for infrastructure prior to the collapse of power-sharing last year.

Last Friday there were two billboards at the Cloughoge Railway Bridge, one promoting four local Sinn Féin representatives and another calling on the Irish government to establish a Citizens’ Assembly on Irish Unity.

When contacted, Translink said: “We have looked into this and can confirm that appropriate action has been taken.”

When asked what it meant by appropriate action, the spokesperson responded: “Translink is a non-political organisation, serving all communities in Northern Ireland.”

Sinn Féin did not respond to queries this week about the legality of the three billboards that the Sunday Independent inquired about.
]
In a further comment yesterday a DfI spokesperson said: “Sinn Féin has acknowledged the department’s request to remove the billboard on DfI property at Egyptian Arch, however, the billboard has not yet been removed. The department must prioritise its resources and has not yet had an opportunity to investigate reports of a billboard at Doran’s Hill.”