UK

Homes for All meeting demands council house building programme after Grenfell inquiry

Homes for All is a coalition of housing campaigners and organisations, tenants and the labour and trade union movement


A protest outside Kensington and Chelsea council the day of the Grenfell inquiry

 (Photo: Guy Smallman)

By Charlie Kimber
Saturday 14 September 2024

SOCIALIST WORKER  Issue

Renters and housing campaigners came together on Saturday for a Home for All meeting in the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell inquiry report.

Several speakers rammed home that unless there is significant pressure, the Labour government is set on schemes that offer essentially “more of the same”.

Labour promises to boost the supply of “affordable homes”. But so-called affordable rents are 30 to 40 percent higher than council rents. There are no targets in the development planning strategy for mass council house building.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to introduce a ten-year social housing rent rise formula in October’s Budget. It will increase annual rents in England by the CPI measure of inflation plus an additional 1 percent.

Homes for All wants no such rises. Council housing needs to be genuinely accessible for working class people.

The 2017 Grenfell fire summed up so many of the housing problems in Britain. At the meeting speakers called for action over building control, immediate removal of flammable cladding and support for tenants who raised concerns.

Grenfell also revealed a deep power imbalance. Tenants come up against uncaring and cost-cutting landlords, with disastrous results.

As author Peter Apps wrote, “The person who spoke out against the appointment of inexperienced architects Studio E for the tower’s refurbishment was tenant Eddie Daffarn. It was not any of the expensively assembled project consultants.


‘We still need justice’—reactions to the Grenfell inquiry report
Read More

“The person who raised the issue of evacuation from the tower, given the narrow staircase and malfunctioning smoke system? Not the internationally respected fire engineering consultancy appointed to produce a fire safety strategy, but the chair of the leaseholder’s association Shah Ahmed.

“Those who raised serious concern about fire door self-closers and the new plastic windows? Tenants such as Betty Kasote, Natasha Elcock and Marcio Gomes—not the official fire risk assessor or the clerk of works.

“The trouble was that the system did not give these people power. It did not give them status in the scrutiny process.”

The Homes for All meeting backed working with others for a protest on budget day, 30 October. The group has done powerful work arguing that migrants and refugees are not to blame for the housing crisis.

The meeting called for support for the anti-racist demonstration against Tommy Robinson on 26 October. There will also be a meeting at the Labour Party conference.
Join the campaign

Homes for All is a coalition of housing campaigners and organisations, tenants and the labour and trade union movement.

Together with Defend Council Housing, it puts forward a five-point plan to solve the housing crisisGovernment investment in a mass council housing building programme, including requisitioning of empty homes and the abolition of “right to buy”
Rent controls and secure tenancies in the private rental sector. Robust regulation of housing associations
New funding to repair and refurbish existing council housing—do not demolish
Adequate funding for accessibility, fire safety, and for retrofitting and thermal insulation
Planning for the people and the planet, and not for developers’ profits

For details go to x.com/homes4alluk and axethehousingact.org.uk/

  UK

Keir Starmer still committed to votes at 16 despite leaving policy out of King's Speech

The PM said he stood by Labour's manifesto pledge to reduce the voting age in all elections - adding over a million people to the electorate

The PM said Labour were still committed to the policy 

By Ashley Cowburn

Political Correspondent

THE MIRROR

14 Sep 2024

Keir Starmer has said he's still committed to introducing votes for 16 and 17-year-olds - despite the plans being missing from the King's Speech.

The PM said he stood by Labour's manifesto pledge to reduce the voting age in all elections - adding over a million people to the electorate.

But Mr Starmer argued at the time: "If you can work, if you can pay tax, if you can serve in your armed forces, then you ought to be able to vote."

Under existing laws the voting age at general elections is 18 - but different rules apply for local and devolved elections.

In both Scotland and Wales, 16 and 17-year-olds are able to cast a ballot in both local and devolved and local elections. In England and in Northern Ireland the age remains at 18.

 UK

Labour 'planning to water down 2030 diesel car ban' as hybrids set to evade ban until 2035

14 September 2024, 22:50

Labour is planning to back away from plans to ban the sale of diesel cars in 2030 - by allowing hybrid models to be sold until 2035. Picture: Alamy

By Chay Quinn

@chayquinn

Labour is planning to back away from plans to ban the sale of diesel cars in 2030 - by allowing hybrid models to be sold until 2035

In their manifesto, Sir Keir Starmer's party had vowed to ban petrol-powered cars in the next six years - but has now appeared to backtrack.

The document said that the party would ban the sale of “new cars with internal combustion engines” by 2030 as part of efforts to reach net zero.

Read More: ‘Scrap Net Zero target to fund NHS’ and don’t ‘tweet when drunk’, say Reform UK

The language had suggested that new hybrids – which uses a petrol or diesel engine in conjunction with a battery – would be covered by the ban.

In their manifesto, Sir Keir Starmer's party had vowed to ban petrol-powered cars in the next six years - but has now appeared to backtrack. Picture: Alamy

A government spokesperson told the Telegraph: “This government’s policy has always been to revert to the original 2030 phase out date for the sale of new vehicles with pure internal combustion engines.

“The original phase out date included the provision for some hybrid vehicle sales between 2030 and 2035. We will set out further details on this in due course.”

Conservative frontbencher Helen Whately said: “This new plan is the worst of both worlds. It doesn’t do much to drive down emissions and it’s moving too fast for businesses and motorists.

“Labour spent years in opposition telling everyone they’d give businesses certainty, but they’re backsliding within months.

“This dithering creates a huge headache for manufacturers and ultimately hurts economic growth.”

UK

Nigel Farage faces accusations he is spending more time in the United States than his Clacton constituency - after speaking alongside Putin supporter at glitzy event in Chicago

By Kamal Sultan
DAILY MAIL
14 September 2024 


Nigel Farage last night faced accusations that he is spending more time in the US than his constituency after his third trip to the country in two months.

The Reform UK leader was the main speaker at an event for the Heartland Institute think-tank in Chicago on Friday, where tables cost up to £38,000.

A politician from Austria who supports Vladimir Putin was among the speakers.

Mr Farage insisted last week he was in Clacton-on-Sea at least twice a week and was buying a home in the area. But locals claim they have hardly seen him since July's election.

Nigel Farage at a boxing show in London in July. The Reform UK leader was the main speaker at an event for the Heartland Institute think-tank in Chicago on Friday, where tables cost up to £38,000


Mr Farage campaigning in Clacton for the July General Election. Mr Farage insisted last week he was in Clacton-on-Sea at least twice a week and was buying a home in the area. But locals claim they have hardly seen him since July's election

A poster put up by Led By Donkeys in Clacton displaying the amount Mr Farage has earned from other jobs

Martin Suker, 31, who campaigns for Clacton Labour, accused Mr Farage of 'swanning off over the Atlantic' rather than doing the duties he was elected for.

'I hear complaints all the time,' he said.

'There's no office or staff sorted, his emails don't get responded to.'

Carla Lewis, 43, added: 'He needs to do more than having a pint in Wetherspoons once in a while.'

Last night, a spokesman for Mr Farage said: 'Nigel told the people of Clacton that he would spend some time in America if elected. They gave him a majority of 8,405.'

Greater Anglia and West Midlands could be first nationalised trains under Labour

The operators’ core contracts end on Sunday, meaning the Government can end their deals with 12 weeks’ notice.


West Midlands Railway could be nationalised (Aaron Chown/PA)

David Hughes

Train operators Greater Anglia and West Midlands’ core contract terms expire today, potentially putting the services on course to be the first ones nationalised by the Labour government.

The ending of the core term of their contracts means Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has the power to terminate their deal with 12 weeks’ notice.

She is not expected to act until the Government’s nationalisation legislation completes its passage through Parliament.

But she said she would be “wasting no time” in bringing services back under public ownership.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh vowed to end the ‘wasteful and fragmented’ franchise system (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

These are the first two operators to reach the end of their core terms since Labour came to power in July.

The operators’ full contracts are not due to expire until September 2026.

But Ms Haigh said: “For too long our broken railways have failed passengers day in day out with delays and cancellations.

“That’s why I am laser focused on overhauling the railways and wasting no time in bringing train operating companies back under public ownership where they belong.

“As soon as our public ownership Bill is on the statute book, we will be starting the process of public ownership by serving notice on these operators – putting an end to our wasteful and fragmented privatised railway and delivering for passengers.”

The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill has already been rushed through the House of Commons and is due to be debated in the Lords for the first time on October 7.

The legislation means the Government will take over services from private firms as their franchises expire.

UNTIL IT'S LAW 

THIS IS A GLOBAL UNION ISSUE

More than half of British women would quit their jobs tomorrow to work for a company that lets them WFH while on their period

By Meike Leonard

14 September 2024 

Over half of British women say they would quit their job tomorrow to work at a company which lets them work from home while on their period.

While 84 per cent of women said they continue to work despite feeling unwell during their period, 70 per cent had workplaces that offered no menstrual or hormonal health support, according to a new study.

Of the 2,100 women surveyed, 86 per cent said they had reduced energy and focus owing to their menstrual cycle.

More than half said their mental wellbeing and stress levels were impacted during their period, while just under half reported that their productivity also declined.

While menstrual cycle symptoms vary greatly, many women experience physical symptoms such as abdominal cramps, backache, nausea, fatigue, bloating and headaches during their period.

More than half said their mental wellbeing and stress levels were impacted during their period

They can also experience mental side-effects throughout their menstrual cycle – including mood swings, anger and anxiety.

These are often because of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or premenstrual tension (PMT) and occur before the period starts.

Read More
Step-by-step guide on how to master your hormones during your cycle by menstrual health expert DR COLLEEN FOGARTY-DRAPER

For women with menstrual conditions such as endometriosis or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), these symptoms can be debilitating, causing some to have to miss work or school.

The new survey, carried out by healthy-eating platform Lifesum, found that 52 per cent of women would leave their workplace for a job that provided better menstrual health support at work.

And 72 per cent said they would like to see workplaces institute more flexible work arrangements.

‘This new data highlights why workplaces must address the unique health needs of their female employees,’ says Wesleigh Roeca, Lifesum’s workplace wellbeing director.

‘To create a more inclusive and supportive work environment, we encourage organisations to adopt a policy that offers flexible work hours, additional healthcare coverage, paid leave for conditions like menopause and endometriosis, and support for pregnancy and fertility challenges.’

How the world’s smelliest fruit is making coffee more expensive

Jake Lapham
BBC News



How much is too much for a caffeine fix?

Prices like £5 in London or $7 in New York for a cup of coffee may be unthinkable for some - but could soon be a reality thanks to a "perfect storm" of economic and environmental factors in the world's top coffee-producing regions.

The cost of unroasted beans traded in global markets is now at a "historically high level", says analyst Judy Ganes.

Experts blame a mix of troubled crops, market forces, depleted stockpiles - and the world’s smelliest fruit.

So how did we get here, and just how much will it impact your morning latte?

In 2021, a freak frost wiped out coffee crops in Brazil, the world's largest producer of Arabica beans - those commonly used in barista-made coffee.

This bean shortfall meant buyers turned to countries like Vietnam, the primary producer of Robusta beans, that are typically used in instant blends.

But farmers there faced the region’s worst drought in nearly a decade.

Climate change has been affecting the development of coffee plants, according to Will Firth, a coffee consultant based in Ho Chi Minh City, in turn impacting bean yields.

And then Vietnamese farmers pivoted to a smelly, yellow fruit - the durian.


Stocks of coffee in Vietnam are "near depleted", and a new harvest season is still two months away


The fruit - which is banned on public transport in Thailand, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong because of its odour - is proving popular in China.

And Vietnamese farmers are replacing their coffee crops with durian to cash in on this emerging market.

Vietnam's durian market share in China almost doubled between 2023 and 2024, and some estimate the crop is five times more lucrative than coffee.

"There’s a history of growers in Vietnam being fickle in response to market price fluctuations, overcommitting, and then flooding the market with quantities of their new crop," Mr Firth says.

As they flooded China with durian, Robusta coffee exports were down 50% in June compared to the previous June, and stocks were now "near depleted", according to the International Coffee Organisation.

Exporters in Colombia, Ethiopia, Peru and Uganda have stepped up, but have not produced enough to ease a tight market.

"Right at [the] time when things started to rev up for demand of Robusta, is right when the world was scrambling for more supply," explains Ms Ganes.

This means Robusta and Arabica beans are now trading at near-record highs on commodity markets.


A brewing market storm


Is the shifting global coffee economy actually impacting the price of your coffee on a high street? The short answer: potentially.

Wholesaler Paul Armstrong believes coffee drinkers may soon face the "crazy" prospect of paying more than £5 in the UK for their caffeine fix.

“It’s a perfect storm at the minute.”

Mr Armstrong, who runs Carrara Coffee Roasters based in the East Midlands, imports beans from South America and Asia, which are then roasted and sent to cafés around the UK.

He tells the BBC he recently increased his prices, hoping it would account for the higher asking prices - but says costs have “only intensified” since.

He adds that with some of his contracts ending in the coming months, cafés he serves will soon have to decide whether to pass the higher costs on to their customers.

Mr Firth says some segments of the industry will be more exposed than others, though.

"It’s really the commercial quantity coffee that will experience the most disuption. Instant coffee, supermarket coffee, stuff at the gas station - that's all going up."

Industry figures caution that a high market price for coffee may not necessarily translate into higher retail prices.

Felipe Barretto Croce, CEO of FAFCoffees in Brazil, agrees that consumers are "feeling the pinch" as consumer prices have risen.

But he argues that is "mostly due to inflationary costs in general", such as rent and labour, rather than the cost of beans. Consultancy Allegra Strategies estimates beans contribute less than 10% of the price of a cup of coffee.

Why Starbucks cannot crack coffee-loving Vietnam

Key crops face major shifts as world warms

"Coffee is still very cheap, as a luxury good, if you make it at home."

He also says that the cost of lower-quality beans rising means high-quality coffee may now be seen as better value.

"If you go into a speciality coffee shop in London and get a coffee, versus a coffee in Costa Coffee, the difference [in price] between that cup and the speciality coffee is much smaller than it used to be."

But there is hope of price relief on the horizon.

Losing future ground


The upcoming spring crop in Brazil, which produces a third of the world's coffee, is now "crucial", according to Mr Croce.

"What everyone is looking at is when the rains will return," he says.

"If they return early, the plants should be healthy enough and the flowering should be good."

But if the rains come as late as October, he adds, yield predictions for next year’s crop will fall and market stress will continue.

In the long term, climate change poses serious challenges for the global coffee industry.


Coffee crops in Sao Paolo, Brazil, were destroyed by a freak frost in 2021


A study from 2022 concluded that even if we drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the area most highly suited for growing coffee could decline by 50% by 2050.

One measure to future-proof the industry that has the support of Mr Croce is a "green premium" - a small tax levied on coffee given to farmers to invest in regenerative agricultural practices, which help protect and sustain the viability of farmlands.

So while smelly fruit is partly responsible for price rises now - a changing climate may ultimately strain the affordability of coffee in the years to come.

City recycles more than 2.3 million coffee pods

City of cafes: Shanghai’s lo

Inflation is cooling. So why is orange juice so expensive right now?


Janna Herron · Senior Columnist

 Yahoo Finance
Sat, September 14, 2024

The price of frozen orange juice is skyrocketing — and no, Clarence Beeks and the Dukes are not involved.

Unlike when those fictitious scoundrels from "Trading Places" tried to corner the frozen OJ futures market with a fake crops report, the explanation for 2024's soaring frozen prices is a little more complicated.

Among the factors: Orange production is way down worldwide due to bad weather and a spreading tree disease that hurts citrus fruit.


But the prices of the frozen version of the breakfast staple are getting hit harder because of import prices and how companies are divvying up their precious orange supply.

Relief is probably not around the corner, either. Orange juice prices likely will remain high because there's no cure for citrus tree disease, and it takes years for farmers to recover from weather disasters.

All of this offers up a case study in how the price of one grocery item fits into the literal food chain and how a host of factors — global change, consumer preferences, and even weather — converge to establish the sticker price we pay at the supermarket.
'The 1,000-pound gorilla'

The short answer to the runup in frozen juice prices is the global orange shortage.

Last year, sales of orange juice represented about half of sales of all juices in the US. That means whatever happens to oranges plays a major factor in prices of the frozen juice category in the Consumer Price Index, a government measure of price changes across an array of consumer goods.

While the appetite worldwide for all orange juice remains stable — with just a slight increase in consumption — supply is under considerable pressure.

Brazil, which produces 70% of the world's orange juice supply, has faced several seasons of extreme weather — including unusually high temperatures — attributable to the El Nino effect. That has devastated orange harvests.


On top of that, a spreading bacterial tree disease is decimating orange production. Citrus greening swells the channels that move water within the tree. Before the tree eventually dies, the clogs in those channels force the tree to drop fruit early, which can't be processed. About 40% of Brazilian plantations have been affected by the disease.

This week, Brazil said its orange crop volume forecast for this season would be 7.1% lower than its May estimate, which was already 24.36% below the previous season’s production levels.

"Brazil is the 1,000-pound gorilla when it comes to production," said David Branch, the sector manager at Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute, who noted the country is "keeping more of what they produce to feed the country and keeping it off the export market."

A worker at a citrus fruit farm separates the tangerines for sale on June 6 in Piedade dos Gerais, in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. (Photo by Pedro Vilela/Getty Images) · (Pedro Vilela via Getty Images)

'Higher cost of production'

That's not all.

Stateside in Florida, the world's third-largest orange juice producer, similar problems are hurting its harvests. The state's orange farms are still recovering from Hurricane Irma seven years ago and Hurricane Ian in 2022, while citrus greening is an even bigger problem there than in Brazil.

Over the past two decades, the disease has slashed Florida's production by 93%, according to the International Fruit and Vegetable Juice Association (IFU), forcing growers to implement costlier measures to blunt the disease.

"The impact of greening is more than just what it does to the tree," Dr. Marisa Zansler, director of economic and market research at the Florida Department of Citrus, told Yahoo Finance. "A lot of producers have higher cost of production, but their yields are going down at the same time."

All these factors make the price of orange juice that much higher.

Orange trees with diseases at the citrus producing farm, Sítio Andrade, on June 6 in Piedade dos Gerais, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. (Photo by Pedro Vilela/Getty Images) · (Pedro Vilela via Getty Images)

Frozen vs. non-frozen juice

This, of course, doesn't explain why frozen juice price hikes are eclipsing non-frozen price increases. It would stand to reason that any orange production shortage would affect frozen and non-frozen juice in a similar manner.

But that's not the case.

The gap in price growth has widened since April of last year, when they both registered a year-over-year increase of 9.4%.

In August alone, prices of frozen juice jumped 18.3% year over year, marking the 16th double-digit increase in prices, according to the US Consumer Price Index released this week. Meanwhile, non-frozen juice prices increased only 1.1% last month and the last time it logged a double-digit annual increase was in May of last year.


There are two reasons for this gaping disparity.

The first is that most of the frozen concentrate orange juice in the US — 69% — is from imported orange production, according to Branch. For non-frozen, not-from-concentrate OJ, 14% comes from imported oranges.

A good proxy of the price of imported orange production is the FCOJ futures contracts traded on the InterContinental Exchange. These prices reached record highs of more than $5 per solid pound in September and have increased over 70% since January.


"Since the majority of [frozen concentrate OJ] supply in US products is imported, this significant increase in FCOJ futures is the primary reason that the CPI for Frozen Non-Carbonated juices has increased," Branch said.


"Juice manufacturers are now having to replenish their FCOJ inventory with the higher priced produce, which has driven the production cost of frozen orange juice drinks higher."

'That break-even cost'

A second reason behind the hike in frozen juice prices is how OJ producers are choosing to apportion their strained supply.

Not only does frozen orange juice make up a tiny fraction of overall OJ sales in the US at 3.5%, but it's also less profitable. The average price for frozen OJ is about 27% lower than the average price for refrigerated OJ, per data from the Florida Department of Citrus and Nielsen Data.

Part of that price differential is because refrigerated juice is more premium, made from non-from-concentrate juice, or NFC, while frozen is largely made from reconstituted concentrate juice, or recon. Non-concentrate is more expensive per gallon than recon.

"In order for growers and juice makers to have that break-even cost, they are diverting [their orange supply] to the more profitable premium NFC," Zansler said.

Less supply is going to recon products such as frozen OJ and driving up those prices more.
'Consecutive good harvests'

The outlook for OJ — frozen or otherwise — is not exactly orange-y.

"Restoring normal stock levels in Brazil will require several consecutive good harvests," the IFU said this week in a press statement after orange production levels were revised down.

And unfortunately, there is no cure for citrus greening. That makes the chances of multiple years of good harvests difficult to achieve, the IFU said. Florida, too, faces similar odds along with more severe weather events, though the state is investing heavily in replanting and disease mitigation efforts.

"When you replant a tree, it takes three to four years to even bear fruit, but really six, seven, or eight years before full production," Zansler said.

"So we're looking at a six- to 10-year horizon…it's just going to take a little time for our industry to rebound."

Janna Herron is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @JannaHerron.

WWIII

Biden inches towards authorising Storm Shadows in Russia


14 September 2024
Michael Evans
NEW STATESMAN


Storm Shadow, Britain’s highly-prized, air-launched cruise missile, is not going to win the war for Kyiv against the Russian invaders. However, this particular weapon, along with the American ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) are literally waiting in the wings for Kyiv to launch a new-style, more deadly and more provocative strike on air bases and missile sites deep inside Russia. They could transform the near-31-month war into the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.




President Putin has warned that if authority is given for these weapons to be used against targets inside Russia, it would mean war between Russia and Nato. Storm Shadow, a heavyweight weapon with a range of more than 150 miles, and ATACMS which can reach 190 miles, have already played significant roles in the war, but exclusively against Russian targets in occupied eastern Ukraine and Russia-annexed Crimea.

Ever since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February, 2022, the US-led coalition supporting Kyiv has ploughed billions of dollars’ worth of weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian military to fight off the Russian aggressors – in the hope of protecting Ukraine’s sovereignty. However, there was from the beginning a proviso, set in stone by President Biden., that the weapons which progressively became more advanced and more sophisticated should be used to defend Ukraine from attack, not deployed to mount over-the-border strikes into Russia itself.

To Kyiv this made no military sense. If Moscow could launch attacks on Ukrainian cities from the safety of the Russian motherland – stand-off cruise missiles fired by bombers well away from Ukrainian air defences- then why should Ukraine not do likewise and hit the very bases inside Russia from where the strikes originated.

A basic military maxim is that you hit the enemy where it hurts the most. But Biden said no, fearful of pushing Putin too far, down the nuclear escalatory road. Other members of the pro-Ukraine coalition went along with Biden’s edict, although with less enthusiasm in London.

All that has now changed, and for a number of reasons. First, Biden is slowly becoming persuaded that Russia deserves to be targeted in retaliation for the huge increase in destructive missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, and, in particular, attacks by heavy precision-guided glide bombs that can weigh up to three tons.

Second, Ukraine is developing its own longer-range missiles which will be capable of hitting targets inside Russia. Kyiv already possesses long-range armed drones which have had some notable successes in striking Russian sites, although with only limited explosive warheads. Under this reasoning, the US and UK would just be contributing towards Ukraine’s own home-grown weapons capability.

The new Labour government in Britain clearly wants to be on the front foot as far as the war in Ukraine is concerned

Third, there is a growing confidence, albeit with an element of having one’s fingers crossed, that Putin is never going to resort to using tactical nukes against Ukraine. The West sent battle tanks and F-16 fighter aircraft, both supposedly red-line escalatory moves in Putin’s mind, but his warnings of dire consequences proved to be bluster.

Fourth, Iran has sent hundreds more short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, all of which will be used to hit Ukrainian civilian and military targets. Although Iran had sent ballistic missiles to Moscow earlier in the year, the continuing flow of such systems between Tehran and Moscow has begged the question: if Moscow can get arms from an overseas ally for use against Ukraine, why shouldn’t Kyiv be allowed to fire Western long-range missiles at Russian targets, wherever they might be.

This is where Storm Shadow and ATACMS have come into play. Both are highly effective weapons which, with the benefit of their longer range, could cause significant damage to the bases from where Russia is currently launching aircraft with their payload of deadly glide bombs.

The new Labour government in Britain clearly wants to be on the front foot as far as the war in Ukraine is concerned, and already appears to be persuaded that Storm Shadow, a Franco-British weapon which has performed to all expectations since its introduction into Ukraine last year, should be used to help Kyiv strike at legitimate targets inside Russia. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, and Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, who were in Kyiv together this week, appear to be of the same mind, that now is the time to concede to President Zelensky’s long-argued wishes for the US and UK to remove the caveat covering the use of these weapons.

In Washington DC yesterday, Keir Starmer met Biden to discuss the Storm Shadow issue, and left without the approval that he badly wanted. The final decision, he hinted, could be taken at the United Nations General Assembly at the end of the month.

Putin has only just got round to sending infantry and marine brigades to try and push Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region in western Russia which they invaded last month. What would the Russian leader do if Western F-16s flew bombing raids with Storm Shadow cruise missiles over the border? Would it mean war between Russia and Nato? Does the West back down or call Putin’s bluff? It will be the biggest decision Biden has to make in his last four months as president.


Written by  Michael Evans
Michael Evans was defence editor at the Times for 12 years. He still writes regularly about defence and security for the paper. He wrote a memoir called First with the News.

ANGLO SAXON ANTI-SEMITISM

Hundreds of Jews were offered the chance to escape Nazi Austria. Civil servants in the UK turned them away

Rory Carroll
Sat 14 September 2024 

Alfred Neumann, back right, with six Jewish workers from Vienna with whom he opened a factory in Newtownards, County Down in August 1938.Photograph: The Northern Whig

On 26 August 1938, Zionistische Rundschau, a Jewish newspaper in Vienna, ran a two-paragraph article under a tantalising headline: “Jewish artisans for Northern Ireland”.

The authorities in Belfast were seeking immigrants from central Europe with skills to train local people and set up enterprises, said the article. “Applications for the registration of startups should be sent to the Northern Ireland Ministry of Commerce, which will examine them in a careful but supportive manner.”

It was, one reader recalled, “like a sign from destiny”. Five months earlier, Adolf Hitler’s troops had annexed Austria and unleashed a campaign of confiscations, intimidation and violence against Vienna’s 170,000 Jews. Now, for some artisans and business owners, came the possibility of sanctuary in a corner of the UK, an escape ahead of the Holocaust.

Around 300 applications with the names of 730 men, women and children landed at Stormont, the seat of Northern Ireland’s government. A handful of civil servants processed the applications. Most ended up inscribed with one of two brief, dry responses: “Regret” or “No reply”.

The first was an instruction to junior civil servants and typists to send a letter of rejection. The second was an instruction to not bother sending any reply. Just a few dozen applications were accepted before the scheme ended. Northern Ireland’s chance to save hundreds and potentially thousands of Jews, and give an example to the rest of the world years before Oskar Schindler, slipped away.

A new book, The Saved and the Spurned: Northern Ireland, Vienna and the Holocaust by Noel Russell, has told the full story for the first time. Based on archives, unpublished family memoirs, letters and interviews with survivors, it tells a heartbreaking story of lost opportunity as evil seeped across Europe.

“It was shocking to learn that people turned away had been murdered in the Holocaust,” said Russell. “It was very emotional to read the letters. Your heart bleeds when you find out what happened to them.”

There is inspiration in the tales of those who did reach Northern Ireland and made an outsized economic and cultural impact, but the overriding sense is regret at what might have been, said Russell, a journalist-turned-author.

“Civic society was not unified enough to put pressure on the government to allow in refugees. There was a chance missed. For people to be saved, you’ve got to be more openminded than the bureaucracy. I think there would have been a more generous response had more people known what was happening.”

The Stormont authorities, using their limited autonomy from Westminster, conceived the initiative in response to a moribund economy and crippling unemployment. There was a precedent: two centuries earlier, Huguenots fleeing persecution in France had founded a linen industry.

And earlier in 1938, a Jew named Alfred Neumann had brought in seven workers from Austria to train locals at a fabric factory in Newtownards, County Down, providing a template for a wider scheme.

The Zionistische Rundschau news item came as Nazi officials, including Adolf Eichmann, ratcheted up pressure on Vienna’s Jews. They were hounded from homes and jobs, forced to scrub pavements, jeered at, beaten and detained.

The Belfast Telegraph and other Northern Ireland newspapers chronicled the persecution – there were vivid, syndicated reports - but Stormont’s bureaucrats viewed the scheme in narrow economic terms, said Russell. “They weren’t operating as humanitarian appraisers, they were operating as civil servants with a job creation scheme to implement.”

Neumann advised the officials yet they still rejected applicants with valuable skills, said Russell, a former BBC producer and documentary maker. One reason was a fear of duplicating existing businesses. “I don’t think they showed much imagination.” Another was that the Home Office in London tightened rules on admitting refugees from Austria.

After the November 1938 pogrom known as Kristallnacht, some applicants strayed from the usual neutral tone and betrayed anguish – “please help a despaired family,” said one – but the rejections continued. “Synagogues burned, murders, it was just a hellhole for Jews. People were clutching at any straw to get out,” said Russell.

Of the 730 people named in petitions, about 630 were rejected. Of them, around 125 were murdered in extermination camps such as Sobibor and Treblinka, with the fate of others unclear, said the author.

The hundred or so Jews who were admitted to Northern Ireland settled, found jobs and some built factories. Neumann was credited with bringing about 70 of them. After war broke out, he was interned as an enemy alien and put on a ship, the SS Arandora Star, with Italian, German and Austrian detainees that in July 1940 was sunk by a German submarine. He drowned.

The anti-immigrant riots in Belfast and other parts of the UK last month showed a depressing lack of humanity, said Russell. “It makes you realise that terrible things that happened can easily be inflamed again.”