UK

Storm Ciarán is breaking records and research suggests more severe weather in future

Colin Manning ▪ Professor Hayley J. Fowler
04 November 2023 | 5 min read


Climate change is expected to lead to more frequent and severe storms, such as Storm Ciarán, emphasising the need for emission reduction and resilient infrastructure.

Storm Ciarán made landfall in south-west England and northern France overnight on November 1, with heavy rain and winds blowing up to 180 kilometres per hour (108 mph).

The UK Met Office names storms each winter season, which starts in early September, and has decided to name them after people working “to keep people safe in times of severe weather” for the duration of the 2023/24 winter storm season. In this case, Ciarán is a tribute to Ciarán Fearon, a Northern Irish civil servant working in flood monitoring.

Storm Ciarán prompted amber and yellow weather warnings from the UK Met office and red weather warnings from Metéo France. High winds have disrupted travel, blocked roads and drains with debris and damaged overhead lines, leaving over a million people without electricity in both countries.

Given how early Ciarán arrived in the winter storm season, trees are still in leaf and anchored in soil that is waterlogged from recent wet weather, putting many trees at risk of being uprooted.

Flood warnings were issued across the south of the UK and some parts of the east coast as heavy rain has met with sodden ground and already swollen rivers.

Storm Ciarán is an extra-tropical cyclone (in other words, a rotating storm which forms outside the tropics) and unusual among North Atlantic storms, which rarely produce both heavy rain and high winds over large areas.

Low pressure in the eye of the cyclone deepened rapidly as it moved over the UK, dropping by more than 24 millibars in 24 hours to a near-record low of 953 millibars. This is what meteorologists call a bomb cyclone.

Forming a sting jet

Only two events with similarly low pressure have been recorded this far south in the UK. Satellite images taken the day before the storm hit suggested a sting jet (a stream of air that can form within a storm and produce extremely intense winds over a very small area) was forming that could strike the north of France.

Ciarán is the UK’s third named storm in a winter storm season that is shaping up to be exceptionally turbulent. The first named storm was in September (Agnes), which is very early. And the UK also had a named storm in August 2023 (Antoni), which is highly unusual.

Large parts of the UK saw twice the average amount of rainfall in October too, largely due to Storm Babet that flooded parts of the north of England and Scotland and left around 100,000 people without electricity. In the lead up to Storm Ciarán, severe flood damage was reported in Newry in Northern Ireland and Wexford in Ireland.

Why autumn 2023 has been so stormy

The succession of storms since August 2023 has been driven by an unusually strong jet stream that has shifted further south than is typical for this time of year.

The jet stream is a band of very strong wind high in the atmosphere that can extend across the Atlantic and bring storms to the UK. A stronger jet stream can make storms more powerful, and a more southerly position means that storms are warmer and carry more moisture and energy, making rapid intensification more likely.

Similar conditions were present for Storm Babet, though Babet became cut off from the jet stream instead, causing it to stall over the UK. Such slow-moving storms can produce more persistent rainfall over one region and cause flooding and are predicted to become more common in a warmer climate.

The strength and position of the jet stream is related to the temperature difference between cold polar air and warmer sub-tropical air. The jet stream is stronger when this south-to-north temperature difference is greater.

The boundary between polar and tropical air masses is further south than normal for this time of year due to anomalously warm sea surface temperatures in the western Atlantic, coupled with anomalously cold conditions in the southeastern US. This has fuelled successive storms over northern Europe.

The unusual strength and position of the jet stream is probably a result of the positive phase of the El Niño southern oscillation, a natural cycle in Earth’s climate which brings higher sea surface temperatures to the western Pacific. El Niño also contributed to the UK’s extremely wet and windy 2013/14 winter season and often causes extremely low temperatures over North America and windy and wet conditions in Europe.

More wet and windy conditions ahead?

Winter storms that hit northern Europe will unleash heavier rainfall in future due to climate change, as warmer air holds more moisture. Scientists are less certain about how wind will differ in future storms, as the relevant processes, such as those causing changes in the jet stream, are more complicated.

However, research suggests that storms which combine high winds and extreme rainfall, like Ciarán, will happen more often over northern Europe in future. This will compound the risks of climate change as the effects of flooding and wind damage accumulate.

Recent storms show that society has not adapted to worsening climate conditions. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will mitigate risks from extreme weather. But national emission pledges commit the world to more warming and with it, more intense flooding and storm damage.

Alongside drastically cutting emissions, countries must build more resilient infrastructure to adapt to a more turbulent climate. This will be costly, but far less costly than doing nothing.

Sources:
▪ Text: This piece was originally published in The Conversation and re-published in PMP Magazine on 4 November 2023. | The authors write in a personal capacity.

UK

ANOTHER RED TORY LIKE SIR KEIR
First came that 'power bob'. Now Labour's Rachel Reeves, dreaming of being the first woman Chancellor, tells MoS: 'I admire Margaret Thatcher... it would be foolish not to!'

By JENNY JOHNSTON FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
4 November 2023 | 

She must have asked herself the question countless times.

Today, Rachel Reeves, Shadow Chancellor, says it out loud. 'It's difficult, isn't it? There has never been one before. You do think, what does a female Chancellor of the Exchequer look like?'

Sharp trouser suit? Meticulous bob? Power heels?

Actually, under the table, Reeves is wearing trainers, and sensibly so. For after our interview she has to dash to take her children, aged ten and eight, to the dentist.

'I always wear trainers when I'm running around but I've always got a little bag with my proper shoes in.'

Pragmatic: Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, shuns power heels for trainers while 'running around' and claims to be a safe pair of hands for the economy



Sure-footed: An economist who previously worked at the Bank of England, Rachel Reeves had been building up to becoming shadow chancellor since being appointed to the cabinet in 2021

It is now nearly four weeks since Reeves, 44, delivered her most important speech yet, at possibly the last Labour Party conference before the next General Election.

READ MORE: 

Keir Starmer bats away demands from Labour councillors to QUIT over Gaza stance as he dodges saying whether he would sack shadow Cabinet members who call for ceasefire - after failing to shift focus on to domestic policy with speech

Keir Starmer argued the party is united

Amid all the policy pledges (committing to economic growth via private investment, setting up a team to claw back the money the Treasury lost during the pandemic; vowing to wage war on private schools and close non-dom loopholes) was one overriding message from her: Labour won't crash the economy; you can trust me with the money.

Of course, Reeves should be sure-footed on money matters. An economist who previously worked at the Bank of England, she had been building up to this since her appointment to the Shadow Cabinet in 2021.

As she puts it herself: 'When Keir gave me the job he said, 'By the next Election, people have got to trust you with the money and picture me as the Prime Minister.' '

Her conference speech was always going to be something of a political land grab, but the shock factor came in how it was styled out.

With its talk of 'iron-clad' fiscal discipline, delivered in a strident voice (by a woman in a blue suit), this could even have been a speech from a Tory, and a specific one at that.

The comparisons with Margaret Thatcher were unmistakable.

Some Left-wing politicians might move quickly to stress the differences between themselves and Thatcher.

Not Reeves, who has always been to the Right of the party. But is she calling herself a child of Thatcher? I think she is.

'When I was three months old, Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister,' she points out, when we meet in a South London cafe.


Rachel reveals: 'When Keir gave me the job he said, 'By the next Election, people have got to trust you with the money and picture me as the Prime Minister.' '

Her conference speech was always going to be something of a political land grab, but the shock factor came in how it was styled out. With its talk of 'iron-clad' fiscal discipline, delivered in a strident voice (by a woman in a blue suit), this could even have been a speech from a Tory, and a specific one at that.

Some Left-wing politicians might move quickly to stress the differences between themselves and Thatcher. Not Reeves, who has always been to the Right of the party. But is she calling herself a child of Thatcher? I think she is.

'As I got older I rebelled against that sort of politics but I never doubted that a woman could be Prime Minister, because Thatcher was there, doing it.

'My generation of women, of course we have been influenced by her.

'Whether you agree with her or not, she smashed glass ceilings and shifted the boundaries. You'd be foolish not to recognise that.'

Reeves claims a profound sense of history and has written three books, the latest of which has been embroiled in one of those controversies that can derail careers.



Her latest book was embroiled in one of those controversies that can derail careers after she was accused of plagiarism

It has emerged that entire paragraphs in her book on women in economics were copied from other sources, including Wikipedia, without accreditation, leading to harmful 'plagiarism row' headlines with the Tories branding her a 'copy and paste politician'.

Today, she tries to brush it off – 'there are worse things to be accused of than copying and pasting some facts about amazing women', she says – but she's clearly cross with herself.

She explains she 'had help' from a team of researchers and that in the reprint, 'we will make sure that the bibliography is complete. But these things happen'.

Thatcher is very much in the book, commanding only one less entry in the index than Tony Blair (Reeves was 17 in 1996 when she joined Blair's Labour Party).

At the risk of sounding flippant, did she learn anything about the importance of having hair as uncompromising as Mrs T's, because her hair got as much praise as her speech did?

By way of admission, Reeves confesses she had a hairdresser come to her hotel room before her big Labour Party conference speech.

Hair is power: In her last book, Reeves observed that the women of Westminster have been trivialised by the focus on what they wear, though noted: 'Female MPs have also used fashion and appearance to tell us something about them and their politics, often to great effect.'

But should we care how our female politicians style their hair?

ITV breakfast presenter Susanna Reid was criticised for even asking Reeves about it but the Shadow Chancellor has almost academic interest in this.

In her last book, she observed that the women of Westminster have been trivialised or objectified by the focus on what they wear, though noted: 'Female MPs have also used fashion and appearance to tell us something about them and their politics, often to great effect.'

And who got it bang on, in her opinion? Mrs T.

'Well-coiffured hair, bright blue suits and, of course, the handbag were Thatcher's trademark – a source of both appeal and caricature,' she wrote.

Right down to a (Mrs) T: 'Well-coiffured hair, bright blue suits and, of course, the handbag were Thatcher's trademark – a source of both appeal and caricature,' wrote Reeves in her last book

So how ready is Reeves for the challenge of being our first ever female holder-of-the-nation's-purse-strings? In person, she has the air of someone who has the removal van booked, though she insists this is not the case.

'I'm not superstitious but I don't want to tempt fate and start measuring the curtains. But it's one of the few glass ceilings we still have to smash and I hope to have the chance to do it.'



On becoming Britain's first female chancellor, Rachel Reeves said: 'I'm not superstitious but I don't want to tempt fate and start measuring the curtains. But it's one of the few glass ceilings we still have to smash and I hope to have the chance to do it'

What if someone beats her to it? There are whispers in Westminster that Rishi Sunak could use a pre-Election reshuffle to appoint a female Chancellor.

Reeves scoffs. 'Well, obviously I've just written a book about getting more women in economics, so if Rishi wanted a woman [Chancellor], I would celebrate that.

'But, having seven chancellors in 13 years – and this would be the eighth – is not normal.'

So if she does make it into No 11 Downing Street, we'd better get to know the woman who is asking us to trust her with our money.

Her constituency is Leeds West, but she grew up in Beckenham, South-East London, the daughter of two teachers with socialist leanings but middle-class lives.


Hands on: Rachel, pictured in July making pizza on a visit to Filey, is the daughter of two teachers with socialist leanings but middle-class lives

'My parents were from working-class backgrounds but they had middle-class jobs.'

That she and her sister became MPs – her younger sister Ellie is the Labour MP for Lewisham West and Penge – is interesting.

They were state school-educated but Rachel was the swot. 'Ellie was the more rebellious one. She's the one who dyed her hair blue.'

Reeves can't think of a single time in her youth when she rebelled.

This is dangerous territory for a politician after Theresa May was lampooned for saying that running through a farmer's wheat field was her solitary transgressive act as a child.

But Reeves sounds as if she got her kicks from achieving. A champion chess player, she developed a taste for beating the public school boys ('I've been in male dominated environments all my life,' she says). She got straight As but her passion was mathematics.

'It's logical. I like certainty. Although I recognise that politics doesn't have much certainty.'

She punches the air when I ask what grade she got to with her childhood flute lessons. 'Eight!'. Is she a pushy mum with her own kids? 'Yeah.'

Reeves studied at Oxford University and the London School of Economics and began her career at the Bank of England on the same day as the future Tory Minister Matt Hancock. She remembers him being much more cocky than she was.

'Obviously our politics were completely different.' Personalities, too? 'He was probably a bit more of a loner but very confident, wanting to put himself forward. He would always sit at the front and have a question.'

Where was she? At the back? 'I was probably just getting on with the job,' she says. By chance, they started as MPs on the same day, too, in 2010. Did she watch him on ITV's I'm A Celebrity, in the jungle?

'No. I was too busy being an MP. But former colleagues did text me to say 'Please don't ever do that programme'. Don't worry, I won't.'

Reeves is possibly the parliamentarian least likely to hurl herself into the jungle. She is married to civil servant Nicholas Joicey, director general for finance for the Department for Work and Pensions.

They met when he was a speechwriter for Gordon Brown and she tells me that they rejected the idea of going out for their first Valentine's Day in favour of watching a BBC2 Newsnight special on the Swedish banking crisis.

It was her own appearance on Newsnight, in 2013, that led to her being called 'boring, snoring' by the show's then editor Ian Katz.


Those who know Reeves talk of her non-tribal, no-nonsense approach – which Labour hopes will speak, in spades, to voters

Admittedly, he hadn't meant to tweet his critique to the world. He thought he was sending a private message. She's still smarting, a little.

'It was pathetic. He has apologised profusely since but I thought it was rude. He'd invited me on the programme. It was Newsnight! I was talking about economic policy. What was he expecting?'

In truth, Reeves has a great sense of humour and a booming laugh, which is unleashed again when I ask if she or her husband sorts the bills at home.

'I'm the only economist. He did modern history, so I'm in charge,' she says. 'We have a joint account but I do all the bills.'

She is keen to stress she knows what it is to grow up having to be careful with money.

'We weren't living in poverty by any means but I remember Mum sitting at the kitchen table when the bank statement came in, ticking every receipt off.'

A woman after Mrs T's heart. Her mum now helps with childcare, goes into battle with her on the campaign trail and phones her after she sees her on TV ('Mostly to say 'You look tired. Are you getting enough sleep?' ').

Little wonder she can look tired. This is a woman who sends 3,200 Christmas cards every year. 'I do a list and start in the summer.'

Reeves has been hailed as Labour's 'secret weapon', though the 'secret' part is curious, given that she's never made any secret of her leanings. Perhaps her ambition was missed, though?

When Jeremy Corbyn became Labour leader, she refused to serve in his Shadow Cabinet (and wasn't asked anyway). Was it, I asked, because she opposed all he stood for. 'Or most of it,' I correct myself.

'No, 'all' is fine,' she smiles. 'I kept myself busy but I didn't want to serve in his team so there were some difficult years.'

She was either playing the long game (possible, given her chess expertise, having once won a national under-14s tournament) or she is a rare parliamentarian who put her principles above her ambition.

She got her recognition thanks to Sir Keir Starmer – who did serve, wholeheartedly, under Corbyn, opposing Brexit.


Eyebrows were really raised yesterday when former Tory Chancellor Ken Clarke praised her as a 'reassuring and responsible' figure'

Not a numbers nerd himself, Starmer recognised that he needed one. She has been called his 'economics Yoda', but also advises on wider policy issues. 'We speak or text every day,' she says.

Interestingly, she's not as tongue-tangled as her boss has been on trans issues. 'I know what a woman is,' she says.

'You can also have trans women but it is different. I think biology matters and I do think single-sex spaces are important.'

Would a female Chancellor be a better Chancellor, perhaps more cautious? She says not necessarily but quotes the then President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, who observed that the world might look very different 'had it been Lehman Sisters', referring to the global financial services firm Lehman Brothers which crashed in 2008.

Those who know Reeves talk of her non-tribal, no-nonsense approach – which Labour hopes will speak, in spades, to voters.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley, the former Conservative Treasury Minister who has worked with her, said recently: 'She seems really normal, which is quite unusual in politics.'

Then eyebrows were really raised yesterday when former Tory Chancellor Ken Clarke praised her as a 'reassuring and responsible' figure'. Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of England, had already endorsed her.

Little wonder Tory MPs are said to be scared of Reeves. A time might come, indeed, when they fear her as much as they did Mrs Thatcher.

The Women Who Made Modern Economics by Rachel Reeves is published by Basic Books

Tory big beast Ken Clarke praises Rachel Reeves’s ‘responsible’ economics in coup for Labour


Archie Mitchell
Fri, 3 November 2023

Tory big beast Ken Clarke has thrown his weight behind Rachel Reeves, praising her “responsible” approach to public finances.

In the latest significant boost for the Labour shadow chancellor, Lord Clarke, who served as chancellor under John Major and was health secretary in Margaret Thatcher’s government, said he had been impressed by Ms Reeves.

But, stopping short of full backing for Labour, he said: “It’s her party that worries me”. Lord Clarke added: “If it was Jeremy Hunt and Rachel Reeves, then I don’t think either of the parties would worry me very much.”

It comes just weeks after the former governor of the Bank of England endorsed the Labour Party in a major coup for Sir Keir Starmer and his shadow chancellor. Mark Carney said it was “beyond time” for Ms Reeves to run the economy in a Labour government.

Mr Carney, the 58-year-old who was handpicked by former Tory chancellor George Osborne to be governor, stunned the Labour conference last month with a video address saying: “Rachel Reeves is a serious economist. She began her career at the Bank of England, so she understands the big picture. But, crucially, she understands the economics of work, of place and family. It is beyond time we put her energy and ideas into action.”

Both endorsements come as major donors and business leaders have returned to the Labour fold under Sir Keir and Ms Reeves, having shunned the party under former leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Speaking to the i newspaper’s Labour’s Plan For Power podcast about Ms Reeves and Mr Hunt, Lord Clarke said: “I don’t think they disagree on very much. They do, of course, politically, I do myself disagree with some of Rachel’s political views, I’m sure.

“But her actual approach, a responsible approach to macroeconomic policy, matches the responsible approach to macroeconomic policy that Jeremy Hunt has which, in the present shambles of British and international politics and the dangers of it, I find rather reassuring – about the only thing I do find reassuring about this election that’s coming up.”

Lord Clarke also warned she would face “a lot of tough, unpopular decisions” if Labour wins power, because “we’re not going to get out of our present financial crisis for at least two or three years”.

Labour grandee Lord Mandelson also threw his weight behind Ms Reeves, saying: “She’s even tougher than I thought she was. I mean, I knew she would be a bit of an old boot, but I didn’t realise that she’d be quite as uncompromising in the way in which she develops policy, sees off her detractors and deals with her colleagues on some occasions too.”

And elsewhere in the podcast, Lord Clarke said Tory demands for tax cuts and a cabinet reshuffle are “daft” and “neither of them will do any good in the sense of winning votes”.

The former chancellor said it was “absurd” to suggest a reshuffle of his top team could turn Rishi Sunak’s fortunes around.

UK

Palestine – Richard Burgon MP re-submits parliamentary motion calling for a ceasefire

Labour Outlook
Amplifying socialist voices, supporting frontline struggles, building international solidarity.
4th November 2023

“Preventing the deaths of any more civilians must be our top priority.”Richard Burgon MP

By our correspondent

Richard Burgon MP has confirmed that he will re-submit his parliamentary motion calling for a ceasefire when the House of Commons returns on Tuesday for the King’s Speech.

Days before Parliament returns, over 90 MPs from 8 parties have already agreed to back the resubmitted Early Day Motion “Protecting civilians in Gaza and Israel”. More are expected to do so in the coming days and once parliament returns.

The motion will use exactly the same wording (below) as the parliamentary motion tabled by Burgon, also backed by over 90 MPs, which fell when the parliamentary session ended on 26 October.

Richard Burgon MP said, “Over 10,000 people in Gaza and Israel have already lost their lives in the last month alone.

“Preventing the deaths of any more civilians must be our top priority.

“Our Government must now use every diplomatic avenue possible and talk to governments of all persuasions to secure a negotiated ceasefire – one binding on all parties – that can bring an end to this crisis.”

The title and text of the EDM read as follows. Protecting civilians in Gaza and Israel: “This House utterly condemns the massacre of Israeli civilians and taking of hostages by Hamas; agrees with the United Nations Secretary-General that these horrific acts do not justify responding with the collective punishment of the Palestinian people; expresses its deep alarm at the Israeli military bombardment and total siege of Gaza and the resulting deaths and suffering; believes that the urgent priority must be to stop the deaths and suffering of any more civilians in Gaza and Israel; welcomes the joint statement from 12 leading aid agencies, including Oxfam, Christian Aid, CAFOD, Medical Aid for Palestinians and Islamic Relief, calling for the Government to use its influence to help protect civilians, to ensure adherence to international humanitarian law and to guarantee civilians have access to critical life-saving humanitarian support; and to this end supports their call for the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to urgently press all parties to agree to an immediate de-escalation and cessation of hostilities, to ensure the immediate, unconditional release of the Israeli hostages, to end to the total siege of Gaza and allow for unfettered access of medical supplies, food, fuel electricity and water, to guarantee that international humanitarian law is upheld and that civilians are protected in accordance with those laws.”

Richard Burgon is the MP for Leeds East and the Secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

If you support Labour Outlook’s work amplifying the voices of left movements and struggles in the UK and internationally, please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon.

Labour's Gaza crisis deepens as left wing MPs plot to force Commons vote on ceasefire - as George Galloway prepares to stand against Sadiq Khan for London mayor

By ANNA MIKHAILOVA and BRENDAN CARLIN

 4 November 2023

Labour's crisis over Gaza dramatically deepened tonight amid plans by Left-wing MPs to defy Sir Keir Starmer and force a Commons vote on a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Mail on Sunday can also reveal that veteran pro-Palestinian campaigner George Galloway may now stand as London mayor - potentially wrecking Sadiq Khan's hopes of re-election by splitting the Labour vote.

Sources close to Workers Party leader Mr Galloway said that his mayoral campaign would be 'a contest against Starmer'.

Sir Keir was yesterday sticking to his insistence on only 'humanitarian pauses' in the fighting in Gaza despite open and growing opposition from Labour MPs.

Shadow Education Minister Matt Western yesterday became the 18th Party frontbencher to go against Sir Keir's position and call for a ceasefire to stave off 'an unprecedented humanitarian disaster' in Gaza.


Labour's crisis over Gaza dramatically deepened tonight amid plans by Left-wing MPs to defy Sir Keir Starmer and force a Commons vote on a ceasefire in Gaza
Keir Starmer defies Labour MPs by refusing to back Gaza ceasefire



The Mail on Sunday can also reveal that veteran pro-Palestinian campaigner George Galloway may now stand as London mayor - potentially wrecking Sadiq Khan's hopes of re-election by splitting the Labour vote
TRENDING

Pro-Palestine protestors storm Washington DC demanding ceasefire

Pro-Palestine protesters hold up banner of Hamas bulldozer

As Labour implodes on Gaza, breakaway eyes areas with Muslim voters

He stressed how he detested Hamas but 'I fear that Israel's actions will only foment greater anger among ordinary Palestinians as they see their families decimated, literally'.

Now rebel backbenchers are threatening to expose Labour's divisions even further by pushing for a Commons vote when MPs return to Westminster this week.

One senior Leftwinger said: 'We are looking to force a vote on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to show just how many Labour colleagues feel this is the only way to end the dreadful suffering of the Palestinian people.

'It is also in no way in the interests of the Israeli people for their government's military onslaught to continue.'

The Labour rebels are now poised to appeal to Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to allow a vote or, at the very least, give MPs an opportunity to debate the ongoing crisis.

Westminster insiders said that would be difficult in the coming as MPs debate the King's Speech programme of new government legislation.

But a source said one procedure to force a vote would be an amendment to the formal 'Humble Address' motion on the King's Speech, although that will not be voted on till next week.

Alternatively, another source raised hopes that an 'opposition day' debate allocated to the SNP a week on Wednesday could spark a vote.


Shadow Education Minister Matt Western (pictured) yesterday became the 18th Party frontbencher to go against Sir Keir's position and call for a ceasefire to stave off 'an unprecedented humanitarian disaster' in Gaza.

The row comes amid reports of several Shadow Ministers with big Muslim populations in their seats being 'on resignation watch' – including Justice spokeswoman Shabana Mahmood, although sources close to her insisted last week she was not quitting.

There are also fears that some Labour MPs that Sir Keir's stance on Gaza could spark challenges in their seats at the next general election from controversial Tower Hamlets' mayor Lutfur Rahman's Aspire party as well as Mr Galloway's Workers Party.

And ex-Labour MP Mr Galloway's threat to stand against Sadiq Khan could pose a serious threat to the Labour mayor's re-election hopes – potentially to the benefit of Tory candidate Susan Hall.

Polling expert and Tory peer Robert Hayward said Mr Galloway standing 'would make a marked difference in the same way as it would if Jeremy Corbyn stood'.

Mr Khan, who is bidding for his third term as mayor, has already moved to distance himself from Sir Keir's stance on Gaza by calling for a ceasefire.



Thousands of protesters took to the streets across the UK again today to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. Pictured: Activists in Newcastle today
Thousands join pro-Palestinian protest in London's Trafalgar Square

However, sources close to Mr Galloway dismissed that last night as 'too little, too late'.

But a London Labour source dismissed the Galloway threat to Mr Khan last night, saying: 'This election will be a close two-horse race between Labour's Sadiq Khan, and the out-of-touch Tory candidate who backed Liz Truss' budget which sent mortgages soaring.

'Sadiq will stand on his record against anyone who chooses to run against him - building a better London for everyone including delivering free school meals, record numbers of council homes and being tough on crime and its causes.'

In a bid to contain the Labour rebellion, Sir Keir said last week that 'while I understand calls for a ceasefire, at this stage I do not believe that is the correct position now' as 'Hamas would be emboldened and start preparing for future violence immediately'.

However, leading Left-wing Labour MP Richard Burgon yesterday called for a 'negotiated ceasefire – one binding on all parties – that can bring an end to this crisis'.

Last night, Liberal Democrat sources said they would 'look at it' seeking to table an amendment for a ceasefire vote.

However, they stressed they were seeking 'a temporary humanitarian ceasefire and a full hostage return'.

WORKERS CAPITAL

British pension funds unpatriotically shunning UK companies - with those responsible for investments for MPs' retirement savings being among worst offenders UK's largest funds are investing as little as 0.3 per cent in British businesses

By JESSICA BEARD, DEPUTY MONEY EDITOR

4 November 2023 | 

British pension funds are unpatriotically shunning UK companies, with those responsible for investments for MPs’ retirement savings being among the worst offenders.

An MoS investigation into these assets has revealed many of the UK’s largest funds are investing as little as 0.3 per cent of their billions of pounds in British businesses.

Instead, pension funds that manage the retirement savings of millions of retirees – including MPs, university academics, pilots and bankers – invest in foreign stock.

The Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF) invests just 1.7 per cent of its £835 million assets in Britain’s listed companies – compared to 59.8 per cent in global equities outside the UK.

The Universities Superannuation Scheme, which invests on behalf of 528,000 members, has a 4.4 per cent holding in listed UK stocks.

The pension fund for British Airways pilots just invests 0.7 per cent in British enterprises, as teh airline's largest fund NAPs sold £81 million worth of investments in UK shares between 2021 and 2022

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt described the situation of investors choosing overseas companies over their high growth UK counterparts as 'perverse'


And pensions for British Airways pilots sits at just 0.7 per cent. The airline’s largest fund, NAPS, sold £81 million worth of investments in UK shares between 2021 and 2022.

Jeegar Kakkad, of the Tony Blair Institute think-tank, said: ‘We are not backing ourselves, it’s as simple as that. This country has seen an almost total liquidation of UK pension funds holdings in listed UK equities built up over generations.’

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has addressed the shortcomings: ‘We have a perverse situation in which UK institutional investors are not investing as much in UK high growth companies as their international counterparts.’

Experts have claimed the funds’ attitudes suggest Britain is turning its back on its best and brightest. The proportion of pension assets invested in UK-listed companies has fallen from 53 per cent in 1997 to 6 per cent in 2021, the Capital Markets Industry Taskforce found.

A PCPF spokesman said: ‘The Fund invests in a range of asset classes on a global basis, including a ten per cent allocation to UK properties.’

THE COULD HAVE INVESTED IN THAMES WATER LIKE A CANADIAN PENSION FUND DID

WAGE THEFT

Recharge Industries: Britishvolt buyer failed to pay UK staff for months

PublishedShare

IMAGE SOURCE,BRITISHVOLT

By Theo Leggett & Simon Jack

BBC Business

An Australian firm which bought the collapsed battery maker Britishvolt has failed to pay its UK staff for the last four months, the BBC has learned.

Recharge Industries took control of Britishvolt after it went into administration in January.

The takeover has not gone smoothly, with some £2.5m of the purchase price still unpaid months after it was due.

However, sources within Recharge Industries insist a deal with a new investor is imminent.

Britishvolt was a start-up with big ambitions. It wanted to build a £4bn "gigafactory" to supply battery packs for a new generation of electric cars.

The plant was to have been built on the site of an old power station near Blyth in Northumberland.

It was seen as an ideal location, with a deepwater port and good access to transport links.

But the venture ran out of money, and fell into administration earlier this year.

After examining a number of bids, administrators at EY agreed to sell Britishvolt's assets to Recharge Industries.

The company agreed to pay £8.57m. Of this, EY says £6.1m was received on initial completion of the transaction.

The remainder, however, is still outstanding.

While most of Britishvolt's staff were made redundant after the company entered administration, 26 were kept on.

The BBC has been told by several sources that Recharge Industries stopped paying them in July. More than half have since left the company as a result.

Pension commitments have not been met since the takeover, they say.

Staff also complain that they have been locked out of computer systems and are unable to work, because an IT contractor has not been paid.

• Britishvolt buyer 'hasn't made final payment'

Recharge Industries is a start-up business owned by Scale Facilitation, a New York-based investment firm run by financier David Collard.

David Collard has not commented on the claims.

Recharge Industries plans to use the Blyth site to build vehicle batteries for the Australian military.

But simply to get control of the land, it not only needs to give the remaining £2.47m to EY, but also needs to raise another £11m to pay property investor Katch, which has a financial claim to the site.

Sources within Recharge Industries insist funding from a new investor is imminent and that will enable the to deal to go forward by the middle of next week.

But Britishvolt employees seem to have little confidence this will happen.

"We've heard this time and time again since August", said one.

"He tells us there's an investor waiting. But he can't tell us who it is. It's always the same story".

Another described Mr Collard's claims as "BS".

David Collard insists he can yet prove his many doubters wrong but he has a lot of work to do - and quickly.

Another employee suggested staff were prepared to give the entrepreneur time to secure the new investment.

IMAGE SOURCE,BRITISHVOLT

Image caption,

Britishvolt's proposed gigafactory in north-east England

It is clear that Recharge Industries has struggled to obtain the funding it needs.

Part of that can be attributed to the impact of a tax raid by Australian federal police on the local offices of Scale Facilitation.

At the time of the raid in June, sources close to Mr Collard, who is a former partner at accountancy giant PwC, said that the tax raid is due to a misunderstanding of the interaction between US and Australian tax filings and that all parties were co-operating.

Scale Facilitation denied any wrongdoing.

Sources have acknowledged though that this made investors deeply wary of becoming involved with the Britishvolt project.

Another key problem has been a buyback clause held by Northumberland County Council, the original owner of the land.

This would allow it to repurchase the Blyth site if substantial progress has not been made on developing it by December 2024.

The BBC understands there are serious doubts at the top of Northumberland County Council that Mr Collard has the financial and industry pedigree to deliver on a project they hope will provide thousands of jobs directly and in the supply chain.

Meanwhile, EY has defended its own role in the affair. It insists that the £6.1m already received from Recharge Industries was "materially above the next best alternative, deliverable offer received by the Joint Administrators".