The Fast Car phenomenon: where has Tracy Chapman been?

Ed Power
Tue, 6 February 2024 

Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs perform onstage during the 66th GRAMMY Awards 

- John Shearer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

It takes a special star power to eclipse Grammy winners Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Miley Cyrus – not to mention a grumpy Jay-Z complaining about the lack of gongs going the way of his wife, the obscure and unheralded singer Beyoncé. But that was what 59-year-old Tracy Chapman achieved when she performed her evergreen dirge Fast Car at Sunday night’s ceremony in a duet with country artist Luke Combs.

Combs’s cover of Fast Car was a huge hit last year. But there was no doubt about who had the upper hand as he and Chapman negotiated the tune on the Grammys’ stage. Gazing at his musical partner with undisguised awe, Combs could have been a stand-in for the millions watching at home, likewise blown away by the ache of Chapman’s voice and by the searing power of lyrics that remain undimmed in their ferocity after 36 years. The impact was immediate – on the back of the Grammys, the track shot to the top of the iTunes charts.

But the biggest surprise wasn’t that Chapman remains a huge talent. It was that she was in front of the cameras in the first place. In the 16 years since her last album, Our Bright Future, she has become one of pop’s great recluses. She hasn’t quite disappeared off the face of creation – three and a half years ago, on the eve of the US Presidential election, she did her bit to topple Donald Trump by performing Talkin’ Bout A Revolution on Seth Meyers’s late-night chat show.

But she has generally maintained a discreet silence and has not toured since visiting Europe in the summer of 2009. Her last UK show, to date, was at the London Roundhouse, where her set included a version of The Cure’s Love Song. And then she was gone – off into the great unknown.

Chapman is no musical eccentric in the tradition of Brian Wilson or Syd Barrett, whose retreats from the spotlight were accompanied by psychological breakdowns of varying severity. As she has grown older, it is more accurate to say that she has come to terms with the fact she is not a crowd pleaser and does not enjoy attention.

Hugely introverted, Chapman has been content to live off the music industry grid – to the point that it is unclear where the Ohio-born artist even calls home nowadays or if she is in a relationship (in the Nineties, she and writer Alice Walker were together for a number of years).

Aside from that Seth Meyers appearance, she had surfaced just once in the run-up to the Grammys – to sue rapper Nicki Minaj for sampling without her permission the track Baby Can I Hold You Now. Chapman is opposed to having her work re-used, and the dispute was settled only when Minaj agreed to $450,000.

Otherwise, she was acoustic pop’s great mystery woman. “I’m a naturally shy person – and it was a bit unusual for me to have a job that involves being in the public,” she told me in 2008, as she was preparing to embark on the first leg of that farewell tour. “I started playing in folk clubs in Cambridge and Boston, usually in front of my friends. That made it much easier. I guess as time passed I grew into it in some ways. I started to understand the business a little better – the nature of celebrity – and tried to figure out a way for it to work.”

Amnesty International Charity Concert: Tracy Chapman, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel And Youssou N'Dour - Brian Rasic/Getty Images

“Figuring it out” meant making peace with the fact that, in the US, she was regarded as an anomaly: an African-American woman playing acoustic guitar. If few on this side of the Atlantic batted an eye-lid, it was an immediate talking point in the US.

“I remember people at my record label asking me why I wanted to play acoustic guitar,” she told me. “One person said to me: why aren’t you rapping? All because I was black. I used get it from my own family, too. They were perplexed by my interest in the acoustic guitar. It struck them as odd.”

It wasn’t just her family. After the release of her second album in 1989, Crossroads, Public Enemy’s Chuck D declared, “black people cannot feel Tracy Chapman”. Still, America’s racial schisms notwithstanding, she made a profound impact on the singer-songwriter genre. That is largely – though not entirely – down to the magisterial Fast Car, a downbeat ballad that makes the listener feel seven feet tall.

The tune has its origins in her working-class upbringing in Cleveland. “It very generally represents the world that I saw when I was growing up and Cleveland, Ohio, coming from a working-class background, being raised by a single mom and being in a community of people who were struggling,” she told the BBC. “Everyone was working hard and hoping that things would get better.”

Fast Car is highly symbolic. While the narrator sings about getting out of town in a hot set of wheels, that is just a metaphor for her desire for escape – Chapman isn’t auditioning for a presenter’s gig on Top Gear. “I never had a fast car,” said Chapman. “It’s a story about a couple and how they are trying to make a life together and they face various challenges.”

She wrote it while studying at Tufts University in Boston. One of her fellow students, Brian Koppelman, was the son of music publisher Charles Koppelman (Brian later became a screenwriter – penning Rounders and Ocean’s 13). Passed a tape of Fast Car, Charles was blown away by her talent. He signed her to a management deal – and immediately contacted Elektra Records.

As Chapman would recall, executives were initially nonplussed at the sight of a young black woman with a guitar. Still, they smelled a hit and paired Champan with Joan Baez / Joe Jackson producer David Kershenbaum, who worked with her on the studio version of Fast Car

Tracy Chapman in 1992 - Getty

For all its promise, the track failed to cause a stir on its release in April 1988. Everything changed that June when Chapman appeared at Wembley for a birthday concert in honour of Nelson Mandela. As with the Grammys, it was packed with stars: Whitney Houston, Peter Gabriel and Jackson Browne. Nobody expected Chapman to outshine them.

She performed a three-song set – but did not sing Fast Car. She had gone off stage when it was revealed that Stevie Wonder, the next singer up, was delayed. She would have to go back on – and when she did, she blazed through Fast Car. Wembley was speechless. Within a month, Fast Car had blazed up the charts in the UK and the United States. A (reluctant) star was born.

There was a backlash the following year with the arrival of her second LP, Crossroads. The public wanted more Fast Cars. Chapman was not the pandering kind, and the record embraced a variety of styles – there is more piano and a “brighter”, bigger sound.

It duly reached number one in the UK, but reviews were mixed. “As an album, Crossroads is not as focused or consistent as her debut,” said the Boston Globe – which must have hurt as she was still living in nearby Cambridge at that time. There was even a push against her fanbase – “Some critics suggested that her largely white audience embraced her socially conscious message as a way to assuage their middle-class liberal guilt,” said the New York Times in 1996.

Chapman continued to write and record, but it was increasingly clear she did not crave stardom. Her true passion was social justice. She has worked with Amnesty International, produced a video for Cleveland high schools celebrating African American achievement and last April received from South Africa its highest honour, the National Order – “recognising eminent foreign nationals for friendship shown to South Africa”.

Such are the accolades she truly cherishes, it is tempting to conclude. She almost certainly values them more than gold discs or applause. The Grammys have rekindled the world’s love for Tracy Chapman, but anyone expecting her to return the sentiment may be left waiting. All the indications are that, having briefly reminded us she still exists, the Fast Car singer is set to accelerate into the sunset once again.

'Many questions' for IAEA visit of Russian-held nuclear plant

AFP
Tue, 6 February 2024 

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi (R) and Ukrainian Minister of Energy German Galushchenko addressed media in Kyiv ahead of a Wednesday visit to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia plant (Roman PILIPEY)

UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi on Tuesday said he had many questions for the Russian team in control of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ahead of a visit to the facility.

Concerns have surrounded the safety of the power plant -- Europe's largest nuclear power station -- since it was seized by Russian forces in March 2022.

Its six reactors have been shut down, unprecedented for a plant of its size.


"On a technical point of view, we have many questions and we are trying to address these one by one with the administration," Grossi said in a press conference in Kyiv.

Grossi heads the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that has had a monitoring team on the ground since September 2022.

But its experts have not been able to inspect every part of the power station, said Grossi, who will visit the plant on Wednesday.

At times "we weren't granted the access that we were requesting for certain areas of the facility," Grossi said.

"We were allowed partial access," he said, but "there are still some parts of the plant we have not been able to visit."

The Russian operator has started granting increasing access, Grossi said in Kyiv on Tuesday after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The nuclear chief also raised the alarm over a drastic reduction in staff numbers at the plant, which he plans to discuss on Wednesday with the Russian operator.

Only around 4,500 staff are employed on site -- down from 11,500 before the war -- triggering safety worries.

Grossi said he had fresh concerns over staffing levels after the Russian operator barred pro-Ukrainian staff from working at the plant.

The IAEA has repeatedly warned of persistent nuclear safety and security risks at the site.

Grossi nevertheless hailed a "gradual increase in the way that both (Russian and Ukrainian) sides are following what the IAEA says."

bur-brw/jc/cw

‘It’s still disruptive’: why the Co-op’s first female boss has big plans for expansion

MEET THE NEW BOSS SAME AS THE OLD BOSS

Sarah Butler
Tue, 6 February 2024 

Khoury-Haq with a model of the Co-op Live arena, due to open in Manchester in April.

Photograph: Joel Goodman/The Observer

She has served pizzas and sold vacuum cleaners to pay the bills, almost lost her life in childbirth and lived on every continent but Antarctica. So taking on the British grocery market is only the latest challenge for Co-op boss Shirine Khoury-Haq.

She took the reins as the first female chief executive of the Co-operative Group – the venerable British institution that encompasses 2,400 convenience stores, funeral homes and insurance and legal services – in August 2022. The crisply spoken Beirut-born former accountant initially joined the group in August 2019 as finance director, just months before the pandemic hit.

Within that turmoil – ­during which her father died from the virus and she was dealing with twin daughters under five – Khoury-Haq quickly made her mark at the business, via a round of job cuts and efficiencies.

More recently, she has turned to growth, trying to broaden the mutual’s appeal to young people with pop-up shops at festivals and sponsorship of Co-op Live, a new arena in its Manchester homeland where the mutual’s 5 million members, who co-own the business via a trust, are getting first dibs on gig tickets before its opening in April.

Some may view the Co-op – owned by members rather than shareholders – as operating an outdated model, struggling to survive against supermarket heavyweights such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s. But Khoury-Haq sees the founding vision for the Co-op – which was set up in Rochdale, Lancashire, in 1844 as a way to ensure local people could access safe food and share in profits – as the key to its future success.

“Go back to the beginning and it was a disruptive organisation that broke the status quo. It is still that if you use it in the way intended,” she says. “Young people have interest in that. Older members have known it for long time.”

Khoury-Haq says the group is ready to shake up the grocery and funeral care markets as it goes on an expansion drive and tries to sign up millions more members – whether by offering tickets for Liam Gallagher or special discounts on milk and bread.

Khoury-Haq’s fundraising drive involved selling the group’s petrol forecourts business to Asda in 2022 for £600m. The Co-op had hacked back its debts to £123m by July last year, from more than £730m a year before, and is armed with more than £570m of cash on its balance sheet, according to those 2023 figures.

More efficiencies are on the cards, but Khoury-Haq says the group is not looking at any more large-scale redundancies after more than 400 head office jobs went in 2022.

The Co-op’s grocery shop empire already accounts for about a quarter of the UK’s convenience-store sector. That includes 2,400 of its own outlets, plus 5,000 others it supplies, including independent co-ops and independently run Nisa stores.

It is aiming to reach at least a 30% share of the market in the next few years and a similar figure this year for “quick commerce” – the rapidly expanding market for home delivery of groceries in under half an hour.

The Co-op believes its network of local stores will enable it to step in where the likes of rapid grocery delivery firms such as Weezy, Gorillas and Jiffy, funded by private equity, have failed.

The upside, if you can call it that, of tough economic times is that there are opportunities out there for acquisitions, for growth

Shirine Khoury-Haq

There will be more grocery stores, including 440 more Nisa outlets and dozens more Co-op franchisees, but Khoury-Haq says the group will not just acquire sites to meet an arbitrary target.

She has warned that the Co-op’s full year profits are likely to fall back as it invests in cutting prices, joining Tesco and Sainsbury’s in trying to build loyalty by offering members special promotions rather than its traditional dividend payment.

Having moved out of running petrol stations, the group is looking at running stores for other operators or signing them up as franchise partners. It will also look at potentially extending its grocery wholesale business, funeral parlours and legal services.

“In funeral care, there is regulation coming through that will fundamentally change the sector and we’re seeing shifts in the market in terms of who is and is not able to keep up with the regulations,” says Khoury-Haq.

“We are looking at opportunities point by point,” she adds. “We’ve got teams that are scanning the markets. That’s the upside, if you can call it that, of tough economic times. There are opportunities out there for acquisitions, for growth. We’re very lucky in that our debt is low. Now we do have cash. And if opportunities arise, then we’re always on the lookout.”

Khoury-Haq relishes the challenge after a life which has made her an expert in overcoming adversity. She has said she felt she might never return to work after losing her first daughter, and almost dying in labour, after years of fertility treatment.

***

She was born to a Turkish mother and Palestinian father whose work in the oil industry took the family around the world. Khoury-Haq had lived on every continent but Antarctica by the age of 12, with stints in Turkey, Brazil and Australia.

She speaks five languages and went to university in Australia and the US, but worked for a long time in hospitality – including stints at Pizza Hut and McDonald’s – as she juggled work with academic study after her father lost his job.

She even sold vacuum cleaners while studying accountancy in the US before she became an executive at McDonald’s helping turn around underperforming franchises.

After completing a part-time MBA, she got a job at IBM and stayed with the technology firm when she moved to the UK to set up home with her second husband. She then moved to the Lloyd’s insurance market, where she was chief operating officer, before joining the Co-op.

Her ambitions for the group are in stark contrast with its fight for survival just over a decade ago, when it was brought to the brink by the near collapse of Co-op Bank. The bank was saved in 2013 by a hedge fund rescue, and the Co-op group sold its final 1% stake in the bank in 2017 for £5m. It has also sold off its farms, pharmacies and travel agencies.

But for all her ambition, Khoury-Haq admits the group faces continued headwinds. “We’re still not in stable times. I think consumers are still struggling with cost of living. Mortgage rates have gone up; interest rates have gone up.

“We have to manage our businesses to make sure that we are financially secure, that we are flexible, that we take care of our members and our wider customer base, and that we have both the operational financial flexibility so that if we have to make shifts, we’re able to do that.”

CV

Age 52

Family:  Married, twin daughters aged seven.

Education BComm in economics at Australian National University; MBA from Ohio State University; postgraduate management diploma at UWE Bristol.

Pay £750,000

Last holiday Turkey.

Best advice she’s been given “From my father – he always told me the stars are the limit, and I believed him!”

Biggest career mistake “No answer to this one. While some career episodes have been less than enjoyable, I have learned from every single one.”

Phrases she overuses “‘I’ve been thinking…’ It always elicits a groan from my team.”

How she relaxes “Chasing my children around, walking the dog and doing martial arts with my girls. I also love to read.”

Senegal plunged into crisis as opposition blasts 'democratic bankruptcy'

Laurent LOZANO
Tue, 6 February 2024 

The opposition in Senegal has denounced the delayed election as a 'constitutional coup' (JOHN WESSELS)

The Senegalese opposition on Tuesday denounced a "constitutional coup" after parliament voted to delay the presidential election by 10 months, plunging the normally stable country into its worst crisis in decades.

Lawmakers backed postponing this month's polls until December 15 during a lengthy and heated debate, which at times descended into shoving and pushing.

The proposal eventually passed almost unanimously late on Monday -- but only after security forces stormed the chamber and removed some opposition deputies.


It paves the way for President Macky Sall -- whose second mandate was due to expire in early April -- to remain in office until his successor is installed, probably in 2025.

Opposition members claim the country has been taken "hostage" and have decried the erosion of Senegal's democratic norms.

It is the first time that Senegalese voters, who were due to elect their fifth president on February 25, head to the ballot box almost 10 months later than planned.

"The situation is completely catastrophic, Senegal's image is ruined, and I don't think we'll be recovering from this democratic bankruptcy, this tsunami in the rule of law, any time soon," opposition deputy Ayib Daffe said after the vote.

Security forces earlier on Monday used tear gas to disperse opposition protesters outside parliament, where demonstrators chanted "Macky Sall dictator".

Inside the parliamentary chamber, gendarmes intervened during the debate to forcibly remove opposition MPs, who had been obstructing the voting process.

The bill was passed without their votes late on Monday, with 105 in favour and only one against.

- 'Gravedigger of republic' -

The move unleashed widespread outcry on social media, despite the government suspending mobile internet access on Monday.

"We are all devastated. It's a blow to Senegalese democracy," said Pape Djibril Fall, one of the 20 candidates who had been in the running for the presidency.

Aliou Mamadou Dia, another candidate, reiterated the phrase "constitutional coup".

"They have taken the country hostage," he fumed.

More than 100 academics and personalities teamed up to publish a column describing the president as the "gravedigger of the republic".

"The real crisis is the one that will result from this unprecedented decision calling into question the electoral timetable, for which he is the sole initiator and ultimately responsible," they wrote.

Even Senegal's celebrated musician Youssou N'Dour, a former minister and ally of the president, said he "unequivocally" condemned the postponement and was concerned for the country.

The parliament vote provides little clarity on what the future holds for the electoral process.

Senegal is often viewed as a bastion of stability in West Africa and has never experienced a coup since gaining independence from France in 1960, making it a rare outlier in a volatile region.

Sall on Saturday said that he delayed the vote because of a dispute between the National Assembly and the Constitutional Council over the rejection of candidates.

He said he wanted to prevent any pre- and post-electoral disputes and new clashes, such as those that rocked Senegal in 2021 and 2023.

Tensions had soared over speculation that Sall -- first elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2019 -- was considering running for a third term.

He eventually confirmed last July that he would not stand again, re-iterating it on Saturday.

- 'Back on democratic course' -

But the opposition suspects the postponement is part of a plan by the presidential camp to avoid defeat, or even to extend Sall's term in office.

The move has sparked international concern and Human Rights Watch warned that Senegal risked losing its democratic credentials.

"Senegal has long been considered a beacon of democracy in the region. This is now at risk," it said in a statement.

"Authorities need to act to prevent violence, rein in abusive security forces, and end their assault on opposition and media," it said.

"They should respect freedom of speech, expression, and assembly, and restore internet, putting Senegal back on its democratic course."

Security forces in the capital Dakar suppressed attempted demonstrations on Sunday and Monday.

Local media reported a total of 151 arrests, which AFP could not initially verify.

But mobilisation on the streets remains limited, with opposition figures yet to form a coherent bloc.

Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, a historic centre of protest, has been closed since the unrest of 2023 and the anti-system party PASTEF has been plagued by arrests since 2021.

The opposition said it had launched appeals with the Constitutional Council to question the vote delay.

lal/acc/kjm

Retirement ages by country: Will the UK state pension age increase?


Nuray Bulbul,William Mata and Sian Baldwin
Tue, 6 February 2024 

Payments will be made across the UK by the Department for Work and Pensions between February 6 and 22 (PA) (Pexels)

The British retirement age might have to rise to 71 for middle-aged workers across the UK to deal with the growing life expectancy rates combined with falling birthrates.

The current UK state pension age of 66 is set to rise to 67 between May 2026 and March 2028. From 2044, it is expected to rise to 68.

But new research has suggested that this may not be enough, and that anyone born after April 1970 may have to work until they are 71 before claiming their pension.

Les Mayhew, associate head of global research at the International Longevity Centre and author of the report State Pension Age and Demographic Change, said: “In the UK, state pension age would need to be 70 or 71 compared with 66 now, to maintain the status quo of the number of workers per state pensioner.

“But if you bring preventable ill health into the equation, that would have to increase even more,” added Mayhew, who is also professor of statistics at Bayes Business School and has advised the government on rises to the state pension age multiple times as a senior civil servant and in his current roles.

Last April, there were widespread protests in France after a decision was made to raise the state pension age from 62 to 64 by 2030.

More than one million were involved in the rallies, which saw large swathes of the country’s power supply cut, trains cancelled and schools shut.

But what are the highest and lowest pension ages around the world?

In 2019, the latest period for which comparable data is available, the average retirement age in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (Oecd) countries was 64 years. The Oecd is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, including the US and the UK.

Countries with the highest pension ages

Greece is among the countries with the highest retirement age in the world: 67 for men and women. Workers can claim full pension benefits only if they have contributed to the pension plan for at least 15 years (equivalent to 4,500 working days).

Denmark, Iceland, Israel, and Italy also have retirement ages of 67.

For anyone born in 1960 and later, the US Social Security Administration states that the current retirement age in the US is also 67.

Americans’ retirement age is 66 if they were born between 1943 and 1954, and 66-and-a-half if they were born in 1955. Starting in 1955, the retirement age gradually rises by two months a year until 1959.

The current retirement age in Ireland is 66.

Countries with the lowest pension ages

Only four countries have a state retirement age below 60 years old.

Sri Lanka has one of the lowest pension ages in the world, with workers able to clock off at 55.

Indonesia and Nepal follow closely behind, with retirement ages of 58.

In fourth place is Bangladesh, with a pension age of 59.

What is the current retirement age in the UK?

The current state pension retirement age in the UK is 66.

However, the state pension age is set to rise to 67 between May 2026 and March 2028. From 2044, it is expected to rise to 68.

The government said it would ensure that the state pension remained “a sustainable and fair foundation of income for future generations”.

A spokesperson said: “We have committed £70m in employment and skills support for the over-50s, which has seen an extra 54,000 over-50s added to company payrolls. Our £2.5bn Back to Work plan is supporting people to stay fit and find work, in addition to £14.1bn to improve health services to help people live longer, healthier lives.”

You can keep working after you reach the state pension age in the UK.

KULAKS

Farmers are holding the EU hostage – and they are winning

James Crisp
Tue, 6 February 2024

The EU fears Eurosceptic parties could be bolstered by the farmers' populist revolt - GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP

Brussels’ climbdown on net zero rules for farmers will not stuff the Eurosceptic genie back into the bottle.

Polls predict anti-EU parties will win June’s European Parliament elections in nine member states – Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Slovakia.

Now fully emerged from their defensive crouch after Britain’s painful Brexit negotiations, they are set to come second or third in another nine EU countries.


The EU fears that those results could be boosted by the farmers’ populist revolt.

Tractor protests against climate rules handed a Dutch farmer’s party a landslide victory in regional elections last year after the vote became a referendum on establishment politics.

A farmer's tractor protest in Italy - IVAN ROMANO/GETTY IMAGES

After the ruling coalition collapsed, voters turned to Geert Wilders, an anti-migrant, Nexit-backing, farmer-supporting firebrand in November’s snap general election.

Copycat tractor protests have since been held in France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Poland, and Romania, are expected soon in Slovakia and erupted in Spain on Tuesday.

Eurosceptic parties have adopted the farmer’s fight, robbing pro-EU forces of a constituency it has long regarded as its own thanks to the bloc’s huge agricultural subsidies.

A key battleground in the looming campaign is the pushback against the EU’s 2050 net zero target, a culture war given impetus by the cost of living crisis.

Geert Wilders, the farmer-supporting populist leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom - REMKO DE WAAL/SHUTTERSTOCK

Europe’s farmers are also anxious about competition with cheap agricultural imports from Ukraine after the EU waived trade restrictions and have thrown a spanner into the works of the bloc’s free trade negotiations with the Mercosur bloc of South American countries.

This is a problem for Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president who spearheaded the net zero push as one of her flagship policies.

Five years ago, her appointment to the European Parliament was approved by just nine votes after she relied on Green support to secure the job.

Now her own centre-Right European People’s Party, long the parliament’s biggest group, is courting the farmers by getting tough on environmental legislation.

Farmers are protesting against low pay, strict environmental regulations, and 'unfair' import levels - PIER MARCO TACCA/GETTY IMAGES

The Eurosceptic surge, like those before it, could be comfortably contained by an alliance of pro-EU parties, which will still be in the majority after the elections.

The European People’s Party simply has to forgo the temptation to form a conservative coalition with Eurosceptic parties to limit the influence of the likes of Marine Le Pen, Viktor Orban and Mr Wilders.

But Mrs von der Leyen has wilted under the pressure of her political family and shelved or weakened new EU green laws.

Agriculture is responsible for 11 per cent of all EU greenhouse gas emissions and 54 per cent of its polluting methane emissions.

Mrs von der Leyen’s latest U-turn is unlikely to stop the protests - JEAN-FRANCOIS BADIAS/AP

Removing farming from a plan to cut emissions by 90 per cent by 2040 is a massive concession to the sector, which represents just 1.5 per cent of EU GDP.

Services represent 64.7 per cent of EU GDP, while manufacturing is 23.8 per cent.

Allowing agriculture, which already benefits from a third of the EU’s budget – €386.7 billion over seven years – to force a more protectionist trade policy is equally astounding.

Mrs von der Leyen’s latest about-turn is a major sign of weakness and will not stop the tractor protests.

The farmers are holding the EU hostage and they are winning.

EU scraps pesticide proposals in another concession to protesting farmers

Agency reporter
Tue, 6 February 2024

Bulgarian farmers family hold posters reading: "We want humane treatment of farmers." "I want to be a farmer in Bulgaria" as they attend farmers protest with their a week old calf in front of Agriculture Ministry in Sofia, Monday,

The European Union’s executive arm has shelved an anti-pesticides proposal in yet another concession to farmers after weeks of protests blocked major capitals and economic lifelines across the 27-nation bloc.

Although the proposal had languished in EU institutions for the past two years, the move by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen was the latest indication that the bloc is willing to sacrifice environmental priorities to keep the farming community on its side.

Farmers have insisted that measures such as the one on pesticides would only increase bureaucratic burdens and keep them behind laptops instead of farming, adding to the price gap between their products and cheap imports produced by foreign farmers without similar burdens.

Ms von der Leyen told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that the pesticides proposal “has become a symbol of polarisation”, adding: “To move forward, more dialogue and a different approach is needed.”

Darlington and Stockton Times: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers her speech at European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. The European Union's executive shelved its anti-pesticides proposal Tuesday in yet another concession

She acknowledged that the proposals had been made over the heads of farmers.

“Farmers need a worthwhile business case for nature-enhancing measures. Perhaps we have not made that case convincingly,” she said.

It is unclear when new proposals will be drafted. EU parliamentary elections are set for June, and the plight of farmers has become a focal point of campaigning, even pushing climate issues aside over the past few weeks.

Under its much-hyped European Green Deal, the EU has targeted a 50 per cent cut in the overall use of pesticides and other hazardous substances by 2030.

Darlington and Stockton Times: Farmers drive with their tractors on a freeway at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024. More than 2000 farmers drove around the airport to protest against the government's measure to scrap tax breaks on the diesel they use. (AP

The proposal was criticised both by environmentalists who claimed it would be insufficient to reach sustainability targets, and by agriculture groups who insisted it would be unworkable and drive farmers out of business.

The decision to shelve the proposal on pesticides represented the EU’s latest act of political self-retribution in reaction to protests that have affected the daily lives of tens of millions of EU citizens and cost businesses tens of millions of euros due to transportation delays.

Many politicians, especially on the right and its fringes, applauded the impact of the protests.

“Long live the farmers, whose tractors are forcing Europe to take back the nonsense imposed by multinationals and the left,” said Italy’s right-wing transport minister Matteo Salvini.

Darlington and Stockton Times: Protesting farmers with their tractors take part in a rally outside annual Agrotica trade fair in the port city of Thessaloniki, northern Greece, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024. Greek farmers – hit by rising costs and crop damage caused by recent floods

Last week, Ms von der Leyen announced plans to shield farmers from cheaper products exported from wartime Ukraine and to allow farmers to use some land they had been required to keep fallow for environmental reasons.

In France, where the protests gained critical mass, the government promised more than 400 million euros in additional financial support.

Meanwhile, protests continued in many EU nations.

Since early Tuesday morning, farmers across Spain have staged tractor protests, blocking roads and causing traffic jams to demand changes in EU policies and funds and measures to combat production cost increases.

The protests came as the Agriculture Ministry announced some 270 million euros in aid to 140,000 farmers to address drought conditions and problems caused by Russia’s war against Ukraine.

On Monday night, farmers in the Netherlands blocked several roads and motorways with their tractors and set fire to bales and tyres.

In recent weeks, farmers have also protested in Poland, Greece, Ireland, Germany and Lithuania.

EU eyes 90% cut to greenhouse gases by 2040

Marc BURLEIGH
Tue, 6 February 2024 

The latest EU climate announcements came as dozens of farmers protested outside the European Parliament building in Strasbourg (FREDERICK FLORIN)

The EU on Tuesday urged a 90-percent cut to its greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, even as the bloc's transition to a greener future was clouded by a widespread farmers' revolt.

"Based on the best available science, and a detailed impact assessment, we are recommending that the 2040 target should be a 90 percent emission cut" compared to 1990 levels, said the EU climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra.

He called for a "fair transition" that will still allow EU businesses to thrive and ensure "nobody is left behind" as the bloc seeks to become carbon-neutral by 2050.


In a sign of how politically fraught the environmental issue has become, with farmers venting their anger around the bloc, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen earlier Tuesday gave key ground by burying a plan to halve chemical pesticide use by the end of this decade.

The proposal "has become a symbol of polarisation", she acknowledged, with the legislation stalled amid divisions between EU lawmakers and member countries.

Tuesday's announcements came as dozens of farmers protested outside the European Parliament building, angry over shrinking incomes, rising costs and what they say are increasingly onerous green regulations.

The 27-nation European Union is already working towards an interim target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030.

But rising discontent could deal it a tougher time in trying to get the 2040 goal of 90 percent cuts adopted.

Far-right and anti-establishment parties have latched onto the farmers' movement and are predicted to make big gains in June elections to choose the members of the next EU assembly.

That vote will also lead to a new commission late this year. Von der Leyen has not yet said whether she intends to seek a new mandate at its helm.

- Backlash -

There is a vocal backlash from some industries to the bloc's climate policies and several national leaders are now calling for a "pause" in new environmental rules.

Eleven EU countries, including France, Germany and Spain had sent a joint letter to Brussels saying that the transition for an "ambitious" 2040 target needs to be "fair and just" and "leave no-one behind, especially the most vulnerable citizens".

The recommended target given Tuesday was accompanied by new post-2030 climate projections the commission was required to produce in the wake of the COP28 UN climate negotiations that took place in December.

The next European Commission will be tasked with turning the outline into proposed legislation ahead of next year's international climate summit (COP30).

The bloc's 2040 targets are expected to rely in part on the capture and storage of ambitious volumes of carbon dioxide -- incensing climate campaigners who criticise the technologies as untested and want to see gross emissions-cut pledges instead.

Even so, the plan would require a sizeable effort from every sector of the economy -- from power generation to farming, which accounts for 11 percent of EU greenhouse gas emissions.

- 'Very ambitious' -

Some of the strongest resistance to tougher environmental action comes from the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), from which von der Leyen hails.

The EPP's Peter Liese says a more cautious stance is justified.

As the bloc has been implementing its existing 2030 target, he said, "we see more and more how ambitious it is".

Liese considered a 90-percent emissions cut to be a "very ambitious" target for 2040 and stressed the need for "the right conditions, the right policy framework".

Elisa Giannelli, of the E3G climate advocacy group, urged the EU to keep the social impact of its climate policies front of mind.

"Getting this wrong," she said, "would allow conservative and populist voices to set the direction of the next steps."

The United Nations climate change organisation said in November the world was not acting with sufficient urgency to curb greenhouse gas emissions and thus limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial emissions.

With temperatures soaring and 2023 expected to be recorded as the warmest year in human history, scientists say the pressure on world leaders to curb planet-heating greenhouse gas pollution has never been more urgent.

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‘It’s sad’: is the UK real living wage under threat as Capita and BrewDog pull out?

Heather Stewart

The Guardian
Tue, 6 February 2024

Brewdog founders Martin Dickie and James Watt say they can no longer afford to pay the real living wage to staff.

Photograph: Alan Richardson/The Guardian

The outsourcing company Capita has become the second high-profile business to inform employees it would be dropping its commitment to the real living wage.

The independently calculated rate, born out of a grassroots campaign to improve the lives of the UK’s poorest citizens, is meant to ensure the lowest-paid can afford the basic necessities of a decent life.

But after two years of 10% increases, as inflation ripped through the economy, Capita has joined the brewer and bar operator BrewDog in telling staff it could no longer afford to pay the real living wage, which increased to £12 an hour. Unions fear more companies may be preparing to follow.

Related: BrewDog faces staff backlash after dropping real living wage pledge

At Capita, the Communications Workers Union (CWU), which represents many of the staff – who work on contracts for a range of customers including Virgin Media and Tesco Mobile – is consulting its members about the next steps.

Tracey Fossey of the CWU said: “It’s sad: these are the lowest earners and it makes a big difference to them. Capita are saying that they can’t continue it: that they don’t have the funds to support it – which we don’t agree with, when the CEO can take home more than £1.7m in 2022.”

A spokesperson for Capita said: “Our lowest-paid employees will all receive an above-inflation pay rise. We remain committed to our people and will revisit this decision when appropriate, as part of our continuing review of our cost base.”

In 2015, the then chancellor, George Osborne, rebranded the statutory minimum wage, which all companies must pay, as a “national living wage” in a backhanded tribute to the living wage campaign, which had pushed for better wages, among other demands, including regular hours and fewer antisocial shifts.

But the “real living wage” campaign, as it renamed itself, continues to commission research and set its own, higher wage floor, based on the cost of living for low-paid workers, and to encourage firms to pledge to pay it.

Katherine Chapman, the director of the Living Wage Foundation, which is the guardian of the standard, said she was “disappointed” about Capita and BrewDog’s decisions to drop it, but insisted the movement was still going strong.

“We’ve had two years of significant increases in the rates, because of what has happened to the cost of living. But we’ve had 3,000 employers signed up in the last year alone,” she said.

Chapman argues that consumers and investors are increasingly conscious of firms’ treatment of their employees, and signing up to pay the real living wage is one way they can differentiate themselves. “From what we’re seeing, and from the businesses we’re talking to, there is still growth in the network, and there is a compelling case for this,” she says.

It’s not just the real living wage that has risen sharply to reflect the soaring cost of living – the mandatory “national living wage” is also poised to increase by 10% in April, to £11.44 an hour, as the government continues to pursue a policy of lifting it towards two-thirds of the median rate across the economy.

Neil Carberry, the chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation , says two chunky rises in a row have caused disquiet among some companies.

“I’m getting more on the wires from members about it this year than I’ve ever had before,” he says. “They’re very concerned with, yes, affordability for them, but also fairness across the workforce.”

He adds: “If last year, settlements were 5-8% in the private sector, a 10% minimum wage and living wage increase didn’t feel massively outside the tent. A second one this year means you’ve basically gone up 20% on entry-level wages in two years. What I’m hearing is a lot of concern about fairness across the workforce.”

But Nicola Smith, the director of economics at the TUC, flatly rejects the idea the national living wage is becoming unaffordable. “The TUC continues to call for a minimum wage of at least £15 an hour,” she says. “We’ve got a strong evidence base over the last decade that during some really economically challenging periods, it’s been possible to raise the minimum wage for the lowest paid people in our jobs market with absolutely no negative labour market effects at all.”

In total, 14,000 employers are committed to paying the £12 an hour real living wage (£13.15 in London). Jean-Sébastien Pelland, the executive director of Eland Cables, is one of them. He says as an owner-manager who works alongside his staff, it is “absolutely the right thing to do, both morally, but also economically”.

“I think treating the people well, and looking after them, really makes sense from an economic point of view,” he says. “It requires us to spend less time and money on recruitment. We can build on developing a wider range of skills rather than starting over with the basics over and over again. And it makes Eland Cables a better place to be.”

Mike Turner, the co-founder of Bird & Blend Tea Co, based near Brighton, another company committed to the real living wage, concedes that this year’s 10% rise was costly – particularly once the knock-on impact further up the income scale is taken into account.

Of the approximately 180 staff across the firm’s 17 shops and warehouse, he estimates that about 100 are on the real living wage. “Part of me thinks, yeah, it would have been nice if it was lower, but if it was lower, it wouldn’t be doing what it’s for,” he says. “There’s no point in signing up for a scheme like that if when it starts to bite and have an impact, you pull out of it.”

Coca-Cola HBC follows McDonald’s in feeling the heat of Israel-Gaza war boycotts

Laura McGuire
Tue, 6 February 2024 

Coca-Cola HBC reports strong growth in third quarter results

Shares in Coca Cola HBC edged down this morning amid warnings from analysts that the bottler of the iconic fizzy drink could be the latest to feel the financial pain of boycotts linked to the Israel’s Gaza war.

Today’s forecast comes just one day after fast-food chain McDonald’s missed key sales targets due to customers steering clear of its restaurants because of their perceived support of Israel.

This comes after Hamas, which is designated as a terror group by the UK, launched an attack on Israel on October 7.

Israel’s response in Gaza has led to at least 25,000 being killed, including many children, while hundreds of Israeli hostages are still in captivity. Recently, Israel was taken to the International Court of Justice, accused of genocide.

On Monday, the American chain said global sales across its stores grew 3.4 per cent in the fourth quarter below analyst expectations of 4.7 per cent. While revenue reached $6.41bn (£5.11bn) down 0.7 per cent from estimates of $6.45bn (£5.41bn).

It further solidified the impact boycotts are having on high street favourites after chief Chris Kempczinski said the move had “meaningful business impact”.

In a LinkedIn post last month, the US boss said the giant was “continuing to stand in solidarity with communities around the world”.

“McDonald’s trends are often a good indicator for Coke’s global volume growth,” analysts at Jefferies said.

“We believe that there is likely to be some modest impact towards the end of the fourth quarter from the Middle East conflict with risk of boycotting of western brands, ” they said.

Ahead of the FTSE 100 firm’s trading update next week, analysts agreed that volumes would trade slightly below the market consensus of 1.2 per cent and instead come in 1.0 per cent.

They also predict that for 2024 EBIT growth will come in at 8.7 per cent compared to a consensus reading of 10.9 per cent. However, Jefferies said it believes the business is in a better position to “absorb volatility”.

In October, the bottler announced “strong organic growth” as part of its third-quarter trading update today, with organic revenue being up 15.3 per cent.

Despite criticism and push back from protestors shares in the firm are trading 17 per cent higher than they were a year ago.

Chief Zoran Bogdanović has been quietly trying to rebuild the brand’s reputation after questions were raised about the extent of Coca Cola HBC’s operations in Russia after it pledged it would withdraw from the country following the war. A claim the company disputes.

McDonald’s and Coca-Cola are not the only global brands to be criticised amid the conflict in the Middle-East.

Last week coffee chain Starbucks cut its annual sales forecast due to boycotts impacting sales.

The world’s biggest coffee chain was also forced to call for peace late last year after its stores were vandalised.

Boss Laxman Narasimhan, said: “We see protestors influenced by misrepresentation on social media of what we stand for.”

“We have worked with local authorities to ensure our partners and customers are safe. Nothing is more important. Our stance is clear. We stand for humanity.”

Some $11bn (£10bn) has been wiped off the coffee outfit’s market value amid calls for a boycott.

It’s ‘national sickie day’ – is ill-health holding back the UK economy?

The first Monday of February is apparently the most popular day for employees to call in sick, 

Larry Elliott

THE GUARDIAN
Mon, 5 February 2024 

The first Monday in February is supposedly the day on which the most staff call in sick compared with the rest of the year. Photograph: Jozef Polc/Alamy

The first Monday of February is apparently the most popular day for employees to call in sick, so the timing of the latest labour market health check by Britain’s number crunchers could scarcely have been better.

According to the latest evidence the UK has an even bigger problem with inactivity due to long-term sickness than previously thought.

Fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest there are now 2.8 million people classified as not looking for work because of health issues – up from the 2.6 million previously estimated and a one-third increase on the 2.1 million before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Related: The Observer view on the nation’s poor health | Observer editorial

The ONS has rejigged its view of what has been happening to employment, unemployment and inactivity in order to take account of the fact the size of the UK’s population has been revised up. Its tentative conclusions are that the labour market is bigger, sicker and tighter than the old data suggested.

While the ONS was at pains to caution against reading too much into its new estimates, they show that employment is 170,000 higher than was thought but there are more prime age (16- to 64-year-old) people not working or looking for jobs, and long-term sickness now accounts for more than 30% of inactivity.

Hannah Slaughter, a senior economist at the Resolution Foundation thinktank, said: “Tackling rising ill-health is a huge social and economic challenges that we’ll be facing throughout the 2020s, as will getting the UK employment back up to and beyond pre-pandemic levels.”

The ONS view of recent short-term developments has also changed. It believes unemployment stood at 3.9% in the three months ending in November last year, lower than its previous 4.2% estimate.

The Bank of England is closely monitoring the labour market for signs of an easing of pay pressure. Analysts said the new ONS estimates might make Threadneedle Street’s monetary policy committee more cautious about cutting interest rates.

“The new figures show that the labour market is tighter than believed previously. Furthermore there is no evidence that conditions have loosened recently,” said Philip Shaw of Investec.

James Moberly of Goldman Sachs said: “The reduction in the unemployment rate suggests that progress on labour market rebalancing may have stalled, which has somewhat hawkish implications for the Bank.”

The reason the ONS warned against reading too much into the new data is that it lacks a complete picture of the labour market after suspending statistics from what had been its main gauge of developments – the Labour Force Survey – on the grounds that weak response rates made the results unreliable.

The LFS was replaced by an experimental series based on a range of sources including the claimant count and PAYE data. It will take until September before the ONS is ready to announce its replacement for the LFS.

Samuel Tombs, the chief UK economist at Pantheon Macro, said the ONS still had “little faith” in the quality of its figures and was only willing to say that unemployment rate “may have fallen”. He said more recent evidence, including rising redundancy notifications, showed rising unemployment.

With UK dividends disappearing overseas, it’s time to resurrect employee ownership


Bartek Staniszewski
Mon, 5 February 2024 

Aardman Animation, makers of the iconic Wallace and Gromit films, is an employee-owned British company

Promoting employee ownership is an opportunity to empower Brits and boost the economy, writes Bartek Staniszewski

Buying British can be a little, everyday expression of patriotic fervour. By buying British products, the thought process is that one is helping British companies and the plucky Brits that run them. This desire is so strong that, recently, both Aldi and Morrisons added a ‘buy British’ section to their respective websites; around two-thirds of Brits are more inclined to buy a product if it is UK-made. Alas, today, increasingly many UK companies are British in name only.

Over the last few decades, the profits made by UK companies have increasingly gone not into the hands of locals, but to overseas investors. Currently, over 57 per cent of shares in UK firms are held by overseas investors, and increasing. As such, the brand of many UK firms may be British, but the ultimate beneficiaries are not. It is a relatively recent phenomenon; as recently as 1981, the same was true for only 3.6 per cent of UK-quoted shares.

This is not merely a disappointment for civic patriotism, but also a problem for the UK economy. Any profits that end up overseas instead of in the UK will most likely also be spent overseas. Money that could otherwise have gone to a UK greengrocer will instead fuel the retail sector in another country, and investment made from such profits will likely strengthen an economy overseas instead of helping the very country that produced them.

UK individuals, in particular, have lost out. It is they who, once upon a time, owned the majority of UK-quoted shares. In 1963, 54 per cent of shares in UK firms were held by UK individuals. Today, they own less than 11 per cent. The remaining 89 per cent belongs to financial institutions.

But it is UK individuals who need UK shares the most, especially now. Today, about a third of the UK population have less than £1,000 saved. About two-thirds would not be able to last for three months without borrowing money. Savings in the form of shares would be a natural means of remedying that. Dividends from said shares would also boost incomes, and individuals, unlike financial institutions, are overwhelmingly likely to spend said income locally, boosting the local economy.

Conversely, financial institutions are much more likely to spend the profits they derive from dividends abroad. Even when they do spend them in the UK, it is often either to pay their already relatively well-paid staff, or to make investments that are not always beneficial for Britons. Speculative investment in property, for example, has the potential to price out families looking for a home to live in.

The government should attempt to change the situation, but the firms that sold their shares to overseas investors presumably did so because it benefitted them. Any attempt at fixing the issue would have to offer firms some other benefit.

A win-win solution would be for the government to resurrect its effort to promote employee business ownership. Such efforts were made, most recently, by the coalition government, and could allow millions of UK employees to own shares in the businesses they work for. They then benefit from the extra income and savings, while the firms that employ them benefit from as much as 12 per cent extra productivity, superior innovation and much-improved resilience to economic downturns.

Employee ownership would be particularly valuable in sectors where average pay is relatively low – the resultant boost in otherwise low-paid employees’ savings and incomes could go a long way to improving the UK’s wealth and income inequalities, killing two birds with one stone.

Whoever ends up in Number 10 at the end of this year must not let the employee ownership opportunity go amiss.