Labour’s NHS manifesto not ‘Fit for the Future’

2nd July 2024Leave a Commenton Labour’s NHS manifesto not ‘Fit for the Future’

“We believe that the vote that brings them to office will reflect widespread, deep disaffection with the Conservative Government and does not give Labour a mandate to enforce its woefully inadequate plan for the NHS in its manifesto.”

By Keep Our NHS Public

The recovery of the NHS is in the hands of the incoming government and the balance of forces able to force change. Keep Our NHS Public’s crucial concerns in the Labour Manifesto on the NHS are:

▪︎ No commitment to invest the required funds in the public NHS after 14 years of austerity – every chance finances will be squeezed further
▪︎ Insistence that government must prioritise thoroughgoing NHS reforms over funding
▪︎ No commitment to ending the wasteful and damaging investment in the private sector invited into the NHS body and parasitising it
▪︎ Insistence that there is ‘spare capacity’ in the private sector that can benefit the NHS and end waiting lists, when all the evidence shows exactly the reverse is true
▪︎ No commitment to pay restoration for NHS staff and a reliance on their agreeing to work overtime to reduce the NHS waiting lists
▪︎ No commitment to ending the charging of undocumented people for healthcare
▪︎ It is simply not true that Labour’s plans are ‘in line with the principles of the NHS that Labour founded’

It is inevitable now that the government to be elected on 4 July 2024 will be Labour, so Labour’s manifesto on the NHS (‘Build an NHS Fit For the Future’ pp91-103) is of particular importance. (A critique of other parties’ manifesto is here). 

Labour’s promises

Labour says: ‘Labour will stop the chaos in our health and care services, turn the page, and reform them in line with the principles of the NHS that Labour founded.’ (Manifesto p103)

We say: Labour’s plans overturn several founding principles of the NHS, which are: a national health service that is publicly provided and publicly accountable, as well as universal, comprehensive, and free at the point of use. Labour’s Manifesto embraces the private sector, despite the damage it has already done, and continues the Tory fragmentation of our NHS. It does nothing to overturn the Hostile Environment and restore free treatment for everyone in Britain, another founding principle. Immediately, the NHS needs stability and urgent funding, not “reform” and further disorganisation. NHS staff and services need security to do their job and to treat patients safely and well. Primary and community care, hospitals and public health desperately need urgent support. To restore the public NHS, the government needs to bring forward new legislation to undo the damage of the 2012 and 2022 Health acts.

On commitment to the NHS model

Labour says: ‘The best health services should be available, free for all. Money should no longer be the passport to the best treatment. People should get the best that modern science can offer. The NHS will always be publicly owned and publicly funded.’ (p93)

We say: Labour does not say the NHS will be publicly provided, a key founding principle. Labour’s silence on this speaks volumes. Whole sections of NHS provision, management and planning are being contracted out – not ‘sold off’. These contracts cause long-term damage to NHS services, which are critically losing NHS staff and NHS funding to the private sector.

The NHS needs ‘fundamental reform’

Labour says: ‘Labour’s mission is to build an NHS fit for the future. Investment alone won’t be enough to tackle the problems facing the NHS; it must go hand in hand with fundamental reform.’ (p93)

We say: The NHS model does not need reform, it needs restoring. It is the successive re-disorganisations and policies undermining the NHS for decades that must go.

The NHS, when funded to meet need, not defunded for ideological reasons, has been and can be again one of the best health systems in the world.

The NHS needs urgent funding – there is a shortfall of £40bn a year compared to France. Investing in scanners, IT systems and other technology is very different from ‘fundamental reform’. It is merely giving NHS staff the tools they need and the support they deserve. Of course ‘investment alone’ is not sufficient: alongside investment in the public NHS must be the missing commitment to publicly provided healthcare.

‘Not just a sickness service’ (p93)

Labour says: ‘We must change the NHS so that it becomes not just a sickness service, but able to prevent ill heath in the first place.’
‘And we will embed a greater focus on prevention throughout the entire healthcare system and supporting services.’

We say: We have to rebuild a coherent and comprehensive public health service and tackle health inequalities, alongside the rebuilding of primary, community and hospital care.  

The Conservative government defunded, fragmented and weakened public health services which have been an essential part of the NHS since 1948. The consequences were seen in the Covid pandemic. They have heightened poverty and inequality, worsened health inequality and undermined the NHS. These have to be addressed.

Community-based care: ‘Healthcare closer to home’

Labour says: ‘Labour’s reforms will shift our NHS away from a model geared towards late diagnosis and treatment, to a model where more services are delivered in local communities.’ (p92)
‘The National Health Service needs to move to a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered in local communities to spot problems earlier.’ (p98)

We say: A comprehensive and safe NHS absolutely needs well-funded hospitals in partnership with well-staffed, properly paid and clinically trained community, GP and mental health services. Community services must be able to rely on hospital back up when needed. When that is achieved, we can truly talk about safe community-based care. Without a cast-iron commitment to build back the capacity of hospitals and the resources of GP and primary care, ‘care in the community’ will be used as a smokescreen for refusing to invest in hospitals.

Reliance on big tech and AI

Labour says: ‘We will harness the power of technologies like AI to transform the speed and accuracy of diagnostic services, saving potentially thousands of lives.’ (p94)

We say: Labour is silent on the risks of increasing reliance on technology, much of which is controlled by global corporations. What happens when computers crash, or data is hacked, or new diseases emerge? We reject the policy assumption that the ‘solution’ to NHS capacity is technology. The quality, safety and effectiveness of the NHS is founded primarily on its staff. Human interaction in clinical decision-making must not be further marginalised, with worrying implications for patients and staff. AI and data systems must serve the needs of patients and staff, not the monetising intentions of major tech and data corporations at the expense of NHS skilled staff. Management of our data by the NHS should be founded on public trust. Data must not be exploited for profit.

Waiting list and NHS staff

Labour says: ‘We will deliver an extra two million NHS operations, scans, and appointments every year; that is 40,000 more appointments every week. We will do this by incentivising staff to carry out additional appointments out of hours.’ (p95)

We say: There are 1.6 million interactions with patients in the NHS daily. Labour is relying on an extra 8000 appointments per day –0.5% of daily NHS activity in comparison. And without a commitment to pay justice for NHS staff, it is expecting a burnt out and exhausted workforce to work extra evenings and weekends. This is not an acceptable strategy. The NHS will solve the waiting list crisis if staff numbers are built back, if staff are paid fairly and if the NHS is invested in. The priority is to build back respect for NHS and care staff and halt the haemorrhaging of workforce away from the NHS.

Waiting lists and ‘spare capacity’

Labour says: ‘Labour will use spare capacity in the independent sector to ensure patients are diagnosed and treated more quickly.’ (p95

We say: There truly is no spare capacity in the private sector that would not further undermine the NHS. Private healthcare relies on more doctors, nurses and technicians taken from the NHS, and the diversion of NHS funding to profit-taking companies. Very clear evidence of the negative impact is the impact on NHS ophthalmology. The rapid expansion of private provision of NHS cataract surgery from 24% to 60% in five years is undermining the funding of NHS eye departments – patients with serious conditions are going blind on waiting lists. In the 2000s, it was the growth of NHS capacity that solved the waiting lists inherited from the Tory Government, not the disruptive, ineffective, and heavily subsidised independent sector treatment centres imposed on the NHS

Workforce planning

Labour says: ‘We will deliver the NHS long-term workforce plan to train the staff we need to get patients seen on time…’ (p96)

We say: The NHS long-term workforce plan must be fully funded. But the current plan will replace trained doctors and nurses in hospital and primary care with the planned 10,000 ‘Physician Associates’ (PAs) and 2,000 ‘Anaesthesia Associates’, along with many thousands of ‘Nursing Associates’. Surgical Care Practitioners, another group without full clinical training, are now doing surgical operations for which they are not qualified. PAs are now prescribing and taking on-call duties, dangerously beyond their role in supporting trained doctors. 1000s of newly qualified GPs are now finding there may be no job for them to take up and training opportunities given to PAs instead.

NHS strikes

Labour says:… Too many patients have seen their treatment affected by strikes.’ (p96)

We say: The new government must address the causes of the NHS strikes – loss of pay, covering 120,000 vacancies, insufficient staff, lack of respect despite the dedication shown during Covid. There must be pay justice and improved work conditions to repair morale and retain nurse, junior doctors and all NHS staff

Primary care

Labour says: ‘Labour will also take the pressure off GP surgeries, by improving access to services and treatment through new routes. We will create a Community Pharmacist Prescribing Service, granting more pharmacists independent prescribing rights.’ (98)

We say: Where is the commitment to more GPs? It is widely accepted that there are over 4200 vacancies expected to grow to 8800 by 2031. There are 1800 fewer GPs today than in 2015. The Labour Manifesto does not mention the Longterm Workforce Plan intention to develop 10,000 non-doctor ‘Physician Associates’, nor that they are being used to replace rather than support GPs, and that there are 1000s of GP trainees at the end of their training now unemployed qualified GPs. The new government must urgently reverse the decision to put the GMC (doctors’ regulatory body) in charge of regulating non-doctor Medical Associate Professions (MAPs, including Physician Associates). It must immediately reverse the block on expanding GP numbers.

Dentistry

Labour says: ‘To rebuild dentistry for the long term, Labour will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focusing on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.’ (p99)

We say: We welcome the commitment to restore NHS dentistry and retain dentists. But it is urgent that more dentists, dental nurses and hygienists are trained and existing dental staff are retained. A new contract should support dentists to provide a full range of treatments on the NHS and be patient-focused and preventive. The contract should be payment per numbers of patients, and charging must be abolished. Dentists should be co-located with General Practitioners in neighbourhood health centres where the staff work as public servants for a public service.

Covid and technology

Labour says: ‘The Covid-19 pandemic showed how a strong mission-driven industrial strategy, involving government partnering with industry and academia, could turn the tide on a pandemic. This is the approach we will take in government.’ (p96)

We say: The overriding lesson from the pandemic was that an undermined NHS and public health service, by-passed by a politically incompetent and corrupt government, led to tens of 1000s of avoidable deaths. This was Misconduct in Public Office.

How can Labour fail to mention here the money wasted on failed PPE contracts and an expensive private Test & Trace system which did not work. These partnerships with industry did not turn the tide on the pandemic. NHS staff risked their lives and thousands died doing so.

Procurement

Labour says: ‘We will develop an NHS innovation and adoption strategy in England. This will include a plan for procurement, giving a clearer route to get products into the NHS, coupled with reformed incentive structures to drive innovation and faster regulatory approval for new technology and medicines.’ (p97)

We say: The NHS Logistics Authority was prepared for privatisation under Labour in the 2000s and dissolved in 2018 to make way for a privatised system under ‘NHS Supply Chain’. This process was responsible for the lethal failures of PPE. Control and management of procurement must be brought back into the NHS. Regulatory approval cannot be rushed or bypassed. The fact that a new product has been tried out at one Trust does not justify a national roll-out without investigating that it is safe, effective, efficient, and suitable for other groups of patients elsewhere in Britain.

Patient empowerment, patient choice, self-referral

Labour says: ‘Labour will therefore transform the NHS app, putting patients in control of their own health to better manage their medicine, appointments, and health needs.’ (p97)

We say: However convenient for many patients a health app may be, it does not put patients ‘in control of their own health’. It does even less for those without smart phones, no access to the internet or disabled people presented with barriers to their engagement.

‘We will allow other professionals, such as opticians, to make direct referrals to specialist services or tests, as well as expanding self-referral routes where appropriate.’ (p99)

We say: Regarding self-referral, we agree with Oxford GP Dr Helen Salisbury writing in the BMJ:
‘Some of [Wes Streeting’s] comments demonstrate a failure to understand the workings of the service over which he’d one day like to preside… To a certain extent this [the referral routes] already occurs… [but] it would make no sense for people to add to waiting lists without any triage or guidance, only to find that they’d sought help from the wrong expert.’

Maternity and patient safety

Labour says: ‘Labour will ensure that trusts failing on maternity care are robustly supported into rapid improvement. We will train thousands more midwives as part of the NHS Workforce Plan and set an explicit target to close the Black and Asian maternal mortality gap.’ (p98)

We say: A commitment to deliver safe maternity care has to be welcomed. But as with the whole restoration required, it will take investment and it will also require a determination to fight inequality and racism across departments of government and the NHS.

And what about patient safety beyond maternity?

We say: There is a national emergency in the NHS. The UK has one of the worst avoidable deaths record of OECD countries, with the USA and Greece – patients who would have survived with appropriate treatment. Over 250 patients are dying every week from delayed emergency care and 39,000 died on cardiac waiting lists in 2022 alone. A national emergency should be called and measures taken to invest and expand NHS capacity.

Governance

Labour says: ‘Labour will implement professional standards and regulate NHS managers, ensuring those who commit serious misconduct can never do so again. And we will establish a Royal College of Clinical Leadership to champion the voice of clinicians.’ (p98)

We say: We want a commitment to restore the NHS along with a primacy of public duty of managers and NHS staff to serve the interests of patients above all.
There are dangers to be avoided in pitting managers against clinicians and clinicians against non-clinical staff. NHS teamwork needs to be rebuilt.

Social Care reforms

Labour says: ‘Labour will undertake a programme of reform to create a National Care Service by national standards, delivering consistency of care across the country. We will enhance partnership working across employers, workers, trade unions and government and establish a Fair Pay Agreement in adult social care.’ (p100)

We say: We must end this social care disgrace. Social care should be free at the point of use, publicly provided, funded and accountable. A national care, support and independent living service is urgent. This important commitment simply must not be delayed over a ten-year period before it takes effect. And the positive change must be based on a process which listens to disabled people, paid and unpaid carers, patient and pensioner groups. The current social care system is predominantly private and major hedge funds are extracting huge profits. This parasitisation of social need must be stopped.  

Mental health and autism and learning disability

Labour says: ‘Across society, mental health has stepped out of the shadows, yet it is difficult to argue the NHS has kept up… And, as a crucial part of that, we will reform the NHS to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health’. (p94-5)

‘Labour will bring waiting times down and intervene earlier. We will recruit an additional 8,500 new staff to treat children and adults through our first term…

‘Mental health legislation is also woefully out of date. The treatment of people with autism and learning difficulties is a disgrace. The operation of the Mental Health Act discriminates against Black people who are much more likely to be detained than others. Labour will modernise legislation to give patients greater choice, autonomy, enhanced rights and support, and ensure everyone is treated with dignity and respect throughout treatment.’ (p101-2)

We say: Political leaders have been saying ‘parity of esteem for mental and physical health’ for too long. If these commitments are met, they will be welcomed. To be met, they will need significant investment in NHS hospital and community mental health. And this cannot be at the expense of primary, hospital and public health services, but alongside the restoration of those services.

The investment in, and reliance on, private mental health hospitals and the damaging out of area inpatient admissions must end.

Obesity

Labour says: ‘We face a childhood obesity crisis. So, Labour is committed to banning advertising junk food to children along with the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under-16s.’ (p102)

We say: To tackle obesity is to view it through the prism of social and economic inequalities and the health inequalities that flow from these. It requires commitment to tackle the massive conflict of interest of the sugar lobby, food and drink industries.

Health inequalities

Labour says: ‘Labour will tackle the social determinants of health, halving the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions in England. Never again will women’s health be neglected. Labour will prioritise women’s health as we reform the NHS.’ (p103)

We say: If the social factors affecting health inequalities are to be addressed, a commitment to and investment in social justice and equity is required including:

Equity of access to healthcare for all – including disadvantaged groups

Action to address social inequality, poverty, low pay and unsafe working conditions, food insecurity, poor housing, under-investment in children and young people, discrimination and racism, pollution, and climate change – the overarching causes of health inequality.

NHS charging of undocumented people for their health care

The Labour manifesto contains no commitment to end health charging of migrants, denial of healthcare to undocumented adults and children, or exploitative health surcharges of migrant workers.

We say:
The outgoing Government’s Hostile Environment scapegoats undocumented people for crumbling public services. They use this disgraceful lie to deflect their blame by fuelling racism. Universal access to healthcare free at the point of need has ended – so many migrants are being charged for NHS care. NHS charges for everyone in Britain, including undocumented people, must be abolished immediately

The Labour Manifesto concludes:

‘Labour will stop the chaos in our health and care services, turn the page, and reform them in line with the principles of the NHS that Labour founded.’

We say:
In truth, the founding principles of the NHS have been overturned, and Labour’s embrace of the private sector would have Nye Bevan turning in his grave.

Restore the People’s NHS

The NHS is under unprecedented pressures, people are dying avoidable deaths and the population is suffering: difficulty seeing a GP and targets being missed; over 250 deaths every week caused by delay in assessment and treatment of seriously ill people; over 39,000 dying prematurely on cardiac waiting lists (in 2022 alone); 120,000 vacancies in the NHS and over 150,000 vacancies in the care sector whilst the services are haemorrhaging staff due to low pay, lower morale and staff looking for work elsewhere.

This stark reality means the Government should declare a national health emergency to release emergency measures proportionate to the severity of loss of life, health and livelihood and to build the capacity of the NHS.

It is inevitable now that the government to be elected on 4 July 2024 will be Labour, so Labour’s manifesto on the NHS (‘Build an NHS Fit For the Future’ pp91-103) is of particular importance. (A critique of other parties’ manifesto is here.) Labour may claim that the election is a mandate to carry through their manifesto on health. But there has been no public debate on the detail. We believe that the vote that brings them to office will reflect widespread, deep disaffection with the Conservative Government and does not give Labour a mandate to enforce its woefully inadequate plan for the NHS in its manifesto.

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• Keep Our NHS Public will not be ending their vigilance and actions on 5 July: Keep Our NHS Public’s campaign to ‘Restore the People’s NHS’ is needed more than ever. You can find a detailed vision to back that call here.
• This article was originally published by Keep Our NHS Public on 28th June 2024.
• You can follow Keep Our NHS Public on Facebook and Twitter/X and Instagram.

We’ll hold Labour’s feet to the fire – Mick Lynch, RMT

30th June 2024Leave a Commenton We’ll hold Labour’s feet to the fire – Mick Lynch, RMT

“We need to find people that want to work with us, rather than knock us on the head — which is where we’ve been for the last 40 years under an extended period of Thatcherism.”

Mick Lynch, RMT General Secretary

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch spoke to The Morning Star’s Elizabeth Short on holding Starmer to account over his promises to scrap anti-strike laws and renationalise rail, and for the lack of a transformative green new deal to create jobs and tackle the climate crisis.

In the countdown to the general election, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch’s message is resolute: “The main task ahead of us for anyone that’s in any way progressive — is to get the Tories out.”

The Morning Star caught up with him amid a barrage of pre-election interviews and just ahead of the union’s AGM.

RMT has not shied away from criticising Labour — as a socialist union, it’s hard not to. Yet Lynch remains practical — the only way to end the Tories’ 14-year reign is by getting Labour in.

“But that doesn’t mean we’re giving a blank cheque,” he says.

RMT has not always engaged with Labour in the same way as other trade unions and has not been affiliated with the party since 2004.

Its links were severed after several branches backed the Scottish Socialist Party, in exasperation with the direction of Blair’s New Labour.

“We’ve got a bigger Labour group of MPs that we co-ordinate in Parliament than we ever had when we were affiliated,” Lynch says.

“We will have Cabinet ministers probably in our RMT group. So we could exert influence and take part, but with a sort of uniqueness of identity.”

He vowed to hold the party’s feet to the fire on repealing the draconian Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023, which requires a percentage of staff to cross their own pickets during industrial action.

The pledge is part of Labour’s New Deal for Workers, and Lynch says that RMT, along with other unions, will apply the pressure to make sure it stays “undiluted.”

Among Labour’s other pledges are plans to bring passenger rail under public ownership, something which Lynch describes as a “major step.”

Although, he points out, the plans do not extend to freight and rolling stock — the carriages and locomotives leased by private companies.

Bringing rolling stock into public ownership is complicated, Lynch admits: “One of the difficulties is that they’ve been set up confidentially with commercial firms, and they are 25 to 30-year contracts.

“So with all the priorities that Labour’s got, it wouldn’t be easy with the best will in the world to unravel those contracts.”

One striking omission from Labour’s manifesto is the absence of a green new deal, a programme to decarbonise Britain, which was initially backed by the party in 2019. And in this, transport would have had a pivotal role.

“I think it would have been transformational,” Lynch says. “Transport, carbon emissions and the new energy revolution are all one thing, they’re all knitted together.”

While green policies could have prompted a switch from car use to public transport, a transition to more high-speed rail could have resulted in a “modal shift” from aviation, Lynch says, as seen in plans in China and South Korea.

Fundamentally, though, backing away from green policies is a great loss for working-class communities.

“Council housing stock would have been updated, insulated, improved,” Lynch says.

“People’s bills would have come down, which would have been a great help, but we could also have generated thousands and thousands of jobs in our community where we re-skilled working-class people.”

Such a transition could have a profound impact on employment, creating opportunities in areas such as heating engineering, construction and insulation.

“You’ve got to have a political party that’s got the ambition and the depth of vision that says I’m going to do all of these things and we’ve got to co-ordinate them all together.

“At the moment we’re just getting a very tight fiscal settlement that’s not very ambitious.”

In a world of rampant job insecurity and the Uberisation of work, the union remains steadfast in championing campaigns that support some of the most exploited workers.

One of the RMT’s priorities has been to get better deals for subcontracted workers such as cleaners and caterers, and ultimately, to put an end to outsourcing — change which could ripple through to other industries.

“I think what’s unique about it is we still have the ability to fight on those issues because we haven’t lost so much ground as many other sectors have,” Lynch says.

“So if you take hospitality, bar work and catering work, that’s completely non-unionised — more or less — people are working casually and being super-exploited.

“But if you do that work on the railway as a catering worker — you’ve still got terms and conditions, you’ve still got a pension, you’ve still got union recognition.

“So that’s why we keep going really, because we want to bring those benefits back to everybody else if we can.”

Among their achievements, the union secured a 21.21 per cent pay increase for contracted-out caterers working on TransPennine Express services last year.

In 2022, over 40,000 RMT rail workers voted to strike in the biggest industrial action since privatisation nearly 30 years prior.

The powerful scale of industrial strength prompted hysterics from Grant Schapps, the transport secretary at the time, who branded the rail unions Luddites, in the face of legitimate concerns for safety and workers’ rights.

“Technology is good if it’s in the hands of the right people,” Lynch says.

“If it’s in the hands of super-exploitative capitalists like Bezos and Elon, then they’re just going to cast people out of jobs.”

Technological advancements may lead to shorter working weeks — or fragmented shifts.

“But we can’t have people just driven into impoverishment because technology has moved forward,” Lynch says.

“People talk about productivity, but there’s no point in pushing up the retirement age if there’s not enough work for people who are already under the retirement age.”

“It’s a big conversation, and we can’t just allow the companies and the employers to be in charge of that.

Lynch says it is more of a societal question about the nature of work and how to distribute wealth to look after everyone going forward — which may mean conversations around universal basic income.

“If we can’t provide enough work for people, we can’t just cast them out into some kind of nether region of unemployment with no prospects going forward.”

He concludes: “But we need to find people that want to work with us, rather than knock us on the head — which is where we’ve been for the last 40 years under an extended period of Thatcherism.”

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• You can follow the RMT on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
• This article was originally published by The Morning Star on June 25th, 2024.

Briton who founded charity helping Ukrainian soldiers dies ‘in battlefield’

Nadeem Badshah

THE GUARDIAN
Mon, 1 July 2024 


Peter Fouché had helped build a field hospital in Kyiv before setting up Project Konstantin.Photograph: Project Konstantin/X


A British man who founded a charity providing support to Ukraine soldiers has died while fighting in the country, the organisation said.

Peter Fouché died last Thursday “in the battlefield” after getting badly injured “in combat against Russian forces”, Halyna Zhuk, commercial director and co-founder of Project Konstantin, said in a video message.

Fouché set up the charity in 2022 as a team of independent volunteers that provide essential supplies such as drones and food to Ukrainian soldiers. It also evacuates the soldiers and civilians and delivers humanitarian aid to conflict zones near the frontline.


In a statement shared on X on Sunday, Project Konstantin said: “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of Pete, our beloved director and founder. There are no words that can do Pete’s life justice. No words or phrases that could ever encapsulate how much he meant to all of us.

“Pete’s unwavering dedication, endless compassion, and relentless commitment to Ukraine and her people have left an everlasting impact on the countless lives he touched.”

Fouché had previously helped to build a field hospital in Kyiv before he founded Project Konstantin and later enlisted as a contracted soldier with the armed forces of Ukraine, according to the charity’s website.

It added that his “extraordinary” actions would “for ever be etched in our hearts”, and described his loss as the “worst nightmare”.

“Pete was more than a leader; he was a beacon of hope, a true hero, and a friend to all,” the charity said. “His wisdom, compassion, and faith in God inspired us every day.”

Project Konstantin became a registered charity last year and has thus far helped to evacuate 219 Ukrainian soldiers, according to its website. A Foreign Office spokesperson said it was supporting the family of a British man who had died in Ukraine and was in contact with local authorities.

Last September, a former British army soldier who had gone to the country to fight alongside Ukrainian soldiers was found dead in a body of water with his hands tied behind his back.

Jordan Chadwick, 31, who served in the Scots guards from 2011 to 2015, had travelled to Ukraine to fight in 2022.

In August 2023, Samuel Newey, from Solihull, was killed while fighting in east Ukraine, his family said. The 22-year-old had been volunteering as a fighter in Ukraine for more than a year.

Other Britons who have died in the country since the invasion by Russia in February 2022 include Simon Lingard, 38, from Blackburn, and Jordan Gatley, who died fighting Russian forces in the city of Sievierodonetsk in June 2023.

Scott Sibley, 36, died in April last year in Mykolaiv after a drone dropped mortars on his regiment and Craig Mackintosh, from Norfolk, was killed while volunteering as a medic in September 2022.

Met Police are trying to SHUT DOWN pro-Palestine demo on 6 July to ‘protect Labour’

 

by The Canary
1 July 2024

Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and its coalition partners have condemned attempts by the Met Police to prevent a pro-Palestine march in central London on Saturday 6 July, and called upon the police to accept the compromise route which has been suggested. Organisers say cops are doing this to ‘protect the new Labour Party government from embarrassment’.
Pro-Palestine march on 6 July

The pro-Palestine march on 6 July will be the 16th major demonstration in London since Israel began its genocidal attack on Gaza in October 2023.


However, despite following all the normal protocols in coordinating with the police, the march organisers have not been offered any central London start or end point for the demonstration, in contrast to every other occasion.

No persuasive reason has been given by the police and the organisers believe it reflects a political consideration not to have a new government, which all the polls indicate will be led by Sir Keir Starmer, overshadowed by hundreds of thousands of demonstrators seeking to end UK complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The Coalition behind the marches had notified the police of the intention to hold a demonstration over a month ago, and have had meetings to discuss several routes which have become well established over the last nine months.

In a meeting with the Gold Commander on 21 June, no objections were raised about the proposal to rally in Whitehall at the end of the march, and it was agreed that the police would confirm acceptance on 24 June.

Despite the coalition organisers chasing the police for confirmation that day, no communication was received until 26 June when the police indicated that they would not allow a march which ended on Whitehall or Parliament Square, citing the need for businesses, tourists, the media, and politicians to have access to that area all day.

Met Police protecting the new Labour government?

The marches have been overwhelmingly peaceful by the police’s own admission and with few arrests – just two out of 175,000 people at the last demonstration. Despite this the police have sought to reject these proposals without providing any convincing justification.

The coalition has written to the police suggesting a compromise route beginning on the Embankment, marching via Parliament Square to the Israeli Embassy. This would occupy one side of the square for a maximum of two hours as protestors marched though and leave Whitehall completely free.

The police have been asked to respond positively to this compromise to allow the march to proceed without hindrance.

Stop The War Coalition said in a statement:

We believe the [Met Police’s] aim is to ensure an incoming (Keir Starmer) Government is not confronted with the views of hundreds of thousands of people demanding an end to the genocide.

Ben Jamal, PSC director, said:

Keir Starmer is facing his first test on the willingness of his government to support the right to peaceful protest, including for protest to take place near Westminster.

The Met Police are threatening to use repressive powers under pernicious legislation passed by the Tory government to stop a protest near Parliament. It has been legitimate for nine months for hundreds of thousands of people to bring their demands for justice for Palestine to the seat of Government, but suddenly it is not.

There is no sensible or persuasive reason for this, other than the new government might be embarrassed to have pictures beamed around the world with people in Whitehall demanding justice for Palestine. This is the first big test of the incoming government – will they robustly uphold the democratic right to protest?

Featured image via the Canary

Met Police attempts to stop Palestine protest rejected – Palestine Solidarity Campaign

1st July 2024Leave a Commenton Met Police attempts to stop Palestine protest rejected – Palestine Solidarity Campaign

“The Met Police are threatening to use repressive powers under pernicious legislation passed by the Tory Government to stop a protest near Parliament.”

Ben Jamal, Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign

By the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC)

Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and its Coalition partners have today condemned attempts by the Met Police to prevent a pro-Palestine march in central London on Saturday 6th July, and called upon the police to accept the compromise route which has been suggested. To date the police are suggesting they will only allow a protest well away from central London.

This will be the 16th major demonstration in London since Israel began its genocidal attack on Gaza in October 2023. Despite following all the normal protocols in coordinating with the police, the march organisers have not been offered any central London start or end point for the demonstration, in contrast to every other occasion. No persuasive reason has been given by the police and the organisers believe it reflects a political consideration not to have a new Government, which all the polls indicate will be led by Sir Keir Starmer, overshadowed by hundreds of thousands of demonstrators seeking to end UK complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The Coalition behind the marches had notified the police of the intention to hold a demonstration over a month ago, and have had meetings to discuss several routes which have become well established over the last 9 months. In a meeting with the Gold Commander on June 21st, no objections were raised about the proposal to rally in Whitehall at the end of the march, and it was agreed that the police would confirm acceptance on June 24th. Despite the coalition organisers chasing the police for confirmation that day, no communication was received until June 26th when the police indicated that they would not allow a march which ended on Whitehall or Parliament Square, citing the need for businesses, tourists, the media and politicians to have access to that area all day.

The marches have been overwhelmingly peaceful by the police’s own admission and with few arrests – just 2 out of 175 000 people at the last demonstration. Despite this the police have sought to reject these proposals without providing any convincing justification. The Coalition has written to the police suggesting a compromise route beginning on the Embankment, marching via Parliament Square to the Israeli Embassy. This would occupy one side of the square for a maximum of 2 hours as protestors marched though and leave Whitehall completely free. The police have been asked to respond positively to this compromise to allow the march to proceed without hindrance.

Ben Jamal, PSC Director, said:

“Keir Starmer is facing his first test on the willingness of his government to support the right to peaceful protest, including for protest to take place near Westminster. The Met Police are threatening to use repressive powers under pernicious legislation passed by the Tory Government to stop a protest near Parliament. It has been legitimate for nine months for hundreds of thousands of people to bring their demands for justice for Palestine to the seat of Government, but suddenly it is not. There is no sensible or persuasive reason for this, other than the new Government might be embarrassed to have pictures beamed around the world with people in Whitehall demanding justice for Palestine. This is the first big test of the incoming Government – will they robustly uphold the democratic right to protest?”

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• This article was originally published as a Palestine Solidarity Campaign on July 1st, 2024.
• You can follow the PSC on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.

UK

“We need a new political voice for the working class”, says TUSC/Collective candidate Dave Nellist

#CanaryCandidates meets Dave Nellist

 by Ed Sykes
1 July 2024
in Analysis

In the twentieth of our video interview series #CanaryCandidates, we meet Dave Nellist – standing in Coventry against Labour’s Mary Creagh

Dave Nellist is the TUSC candidate for Coventry East in the general election, and is backed by Collective – which is bringing together voices on the left to build a “mass movement that will eventually transform into a new political party”. Nellist told the Canary that he’s standing as a candidate partly because of that drift to the right of Labour. It’s more authoritarian. It’s… driven out about a third of its members. And almost everything that was worthwhile in Jeremy’s two manifestos has now been ditched

Nellist quoted a recent article by Andy Haldane, CEO of the Royal Society of Arts and formerly the Bank of England’s chief economist, in which Haldane said:


Labour’s proposed additional spending is about one-tenth and one-fifteenth respectively of proposals in their 2017 and 2019 manifestos

This drastic reduction in spending proposals, Haldane asserted, was a result of both Tories and Starmer’s Labour having “self-imposed constraints” which saw them “committing to near-identical fiscal rules”.

Labour will have increasing tensions with trade unions

Because of Labour’s current absence of any meaningful proposal for ordinary people, Dave Nellist said, it is likely to have more and more problems with the trade union movement in coming months and years, assuming it wins the election as polls predict.

 He asked:
What do unions with members in public services, that are going to continue their decline after the election, say when their members hoped that the new government was gonna be different from the last and are disappointed that it isn’t?

How do they then say at the next council elections ‘vote Labour, even though they’re not gonna give you a pay rise that meets the rising prices, even though they’re not gonna secure or replace the lost jobs in the services that you’re trying hard to provide’? So there will be tensions.

But he also pointed out that for the most people “what changes their view is experience”. So there won’t be a truly massive shift away from Starmer’s Labour Party until ordinary people actually see the results of its awful political positions with their own eyes.

Nellist wants the trade union movement to play a bigger role in left politics going forwards, and reminded us that:

This country was at its most equal at the point when trade union membership was at its highest and when its influence was the greatest, which was the mid-1970s.

In terms of his own electoral promises, he insisted he would continue his commitment to only taking a reduced salary:

As it was my Labour Party’s policy in the early 1980s, only taking the wage of a local skilled factory worker for the nine years I was in parliament or the 14 years I was in the local authority.

And he stressed that his current campaign is largely about trying to:

find the people who think the same way as we do: domestically on poverty and inequality, or internationally on Israel’s war on Gaza. You need anti-austerity, anti-war candidates.

We’re back to square one. And we need a new mass movement urgently.

Dave Nellist is also a firm believer that we desperately need a new mass movement on the left now that Keir Starmer has set in motion the terminal decay of the Labour Party.

 He argued:

We’re roughly where we were a century and a quarter ago when the trade union movement at the back end of the 19th century was looking at the Tories and Liberals and saying ‘I can’t really see a difference there, we need a Labour Party’.

We’re now looking at the Labour Party and the Tories and the Liberal Democrats and saying ‘well I can’t see much difference in that overlapping agenda, we need a new political voice for the working class’.

And he pointed out that the left is already sowing seeds in this general election for the creation of the mass movement that the country sorely needs right now:

After the election, I think there will be discussions taking place, both within the trade unions but also across the trade union movement and the left campaigns that exist. I suspect… Jeremy’s Peace and Justice Project will be part of if not central to the bringing together of those discussions.

Again, what we’re doing in this general election: we’re sowing seeds in all our local areas trying to build up networks, hoping that there can be a better collective discussion and approach that brings forward a new party. Exactly what form it will be, exactly what it’s programme will be, will take negotiations and discussions and so on.

What it can’t be, by the way, is one individual at the top and it being a top-down organisation. It has to have democracy, it has to have accountability. And in my view, it has to fight and win a battle amongst the rank and file of the trade union movement to move trade unionists in there and if possible trade unions into that new structure. Because in my view, that’s what will give it weight and longevity

His message of hope and urgency, meanwhile, is that this movement must be democratic, and it must come into being as soon as possible:

We have to get together in large numbers. The new party we need has got to have millions of votes eventually. It’s got to have hundreds of thousands of people actively supporting, at least tens of thousands of people… putting their main effort into supporting it. And I think that is possible.

So that’s my message of hope, if we can get the organisation, the conferences, the meetings and so on… If we don’t do that, then we do face that problem – having to confront the far more confident and authoritarian far-right populists like Farage and others. It is an urgent job… Labour will begin to disappoint certainly within one or two years, possibly within months of taking office.

For more on Nellist’s comments see the full interview on our YouTube channel:

 

UK

Starmer says he will work with fascist Le Pen against refugees

BySKWAWKBOX (SW)01/07/2024

on Starmer says he will work with fascist Le Pen against refugees

Red Tory plumbs new racist depths hot on heels of offending Bangladeshis with unfounded comments

Keir Starmer, not satisfied with appalling Bangladeshis and all anti-racists with his deportation comments this week, has plumbed new racist depths by saying he would work with fascist Marine Le Pen’s ‘National Rally’ (formerly National Front) party against the small boats used by desperate refugees to reach the UK, according to the Telegraph:

Every day, Labour becomes more and more a racist endeavour. In his eagerness to appeal to the racist right, Starmer is embracing, and opening the door wider for, outright fascism in the UK – while supporting the fascist, genocidal Israeli regime.

Scottish Greens: Nuclear will ‘leave legacy of debt and radioactive waste’

1st July, 2024

By Lucy Jackson@LucyAJackson_Multimedia Journalist

he Scottish Greens have reiterated their opposition to nuclear energy

NUCLEAR power would “leave a legacy of debt and radioactive waste for generations to come”, the Scottish Greens have said.

The party has reiterated its opposition to nuclear, claiming its greater inclusion in the energy mix could hamper the move to 100% renewable energy.

Co-leader Lorna Slater also hit out at comments from Labour leader Keir Starmer, who said the sector will be a “critical part” of his energy plan.

“More nuclear power would leave a legacy of debt and radioactive waste for generations to come,” Slater said.

“Backing it is not just a distraction, it undermines our journey to 100% renewable energy. The Scottish Greens will oppose any attempts to expand or impose it.”

The Green co-leader also hit out at the management of the construction of Hinkley Point C on the south coast of England, where delays and cost overruns have spiralled.

“The disastrous mismanagement of Hinkley Point C tells us everything we need to know about how unreliable and expensive nuclear has become,” Slater (below) said.

(Image: PA)

“It is now running 14 years behind schedule and costs have inflated to £46 billion – seven times Scotland’s entire annual capital budget.

“Even though Hinkley is on the south coast of England, Scottish households will be paying for this travesty for decades.

“It’s outrageous that instead of learning from this catastrophic mismanagement the Tories and Labour are committing to pouring even more of our money into new nuclear power. ”

The UK Government said earlier this year the UK taxpayer will not be on the hook for the cost increases faced by the EDF-run facility in Somerset.

“The Tory and Labour nuclear fantasies will do nothing for our climate and will leave future generations with a costly and dangerous legacy to clean up,” Slater added.

(Image: Gordon Terris)

“Scotland and the UK has a vast potential for renewable energy, but we need to invest in it.

“The huge sums of money being wasted on nuclear energy could be far better spent on rapidly expanding our green industries, delivering 100% renewable energy and investing in the jobs of the future.”

Douglas Lumsden, Scottish Conservative shadow secretary for net zero, energy and transport, said: “The dogmatic opposition of the Greens – and the SNP – to nuclear energy shows that neither party have a clue when it comes to energy policy.

“The SNP and the Greens also oppose new oil and gas production in the North Sea – which would cost tens of thousands of North East jobs – when they know full well that renewable sources alone can’t yet meet our energy needs.

“Nuclear is clean, green and should be a key part of our energy mix – which is why countries around the world are embracing it.”

UK Greens pledge to abolish Ofsted and SATs testing

The party is also proposing to scrap tuition fees, provide free school meals for all children, and have a qualified counsellor in every school.


THE PARTY IS ALSO PROPOSING TO PROVIDE FREE SCHOOL MEALS

 FOR ALL CHILDREN (DANNY LAWSON/PA)
PA ARCHIVE

RHIANNON JAMES

The Green Party has pledged to abolish Ofsted and bring in continuous assessments to replace SATs testing, as part of an £8 billion education package.
The party is also proposing to scrap tuition fees, provide free school meals for all children, and have a qualified counsellor in every school and college.

Co-leader Carla Denyer said the Greens are providing an “A-star offering” which is “fully inclusive and costed”.

Greens also believe that a more holistic education, where arts and vocational subjects are treated equally within the curriculum, will help more students thrive

CARLA DENYER

She said: “To help relieve the stresses in our education system and improve wellbeing, for both teachers and pupils, Greens want to replace high-stakes formal SATs testing in primary and secondary schools with a system of continuous assessment, and abolish Ofsted.


“We also want to see a massive boost in funding for special needs provision in mainstream schools, and for a qualified counsellor in every state school and college.

“No child must be left behind by poverty. Opportunities must be available to all.

“Alongside scrapping the two-child benefit cap and uplifting Universal Credit by £40 a week, Green MPs will push for all children to be provided with a healthy school meal every day – free of charge.

“Greens also believe that a more holistic education, where arts and vocational subjects are treated equally within the curriculum, will help more students thrive.

“We also want children to learn about the climate and nature crises to equip them for the challenges ahead and so they can be part of the solution.”

Ms Denyer, who recently received an endorsement from the Love Actually star Hugh Grant, added: “We don’t pretend there’s a magic money tree lurking in the playground. We are being honest.

“Generating the billions needed to invest in our education system – including giving hard-working teachers a much-needed pay uplift – requires reforming our tax system to make it fairer and greener.

“Our A* offering is fully inclusive and costed. We know it gets top marks.

“Green MPs will push a Labour government to take some lessons from our manifesto and offer better funded support for both students and teachers.”

Under the party’s proposals, £2.5 billion will go to repairing schools with Raac concrete, £5 billion for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and £12 billion to “skills and lifelong learning for further education”.

Ms Denyer said: “Post-16 education and training opportunities must be better designed to support lifelong learning.

“Greens will seek to restore the education maintenance allowance to financially support young people to extend their studies.

“Marketisation has been disastrous for higher education, pushing universities into financial crisis and burdening a whole generation of students with debts.


“So elected Green MPs will push to end tuition fees and restore maintenance grants.”