UK

Labour’s worrying stance on civil liberties

JAUARY 15, 2025

The policies of the current Labour government have in practical terms not deviated from the previous Tory path of austerity coupled with curbs on the right to protest and dissent, argues Nadine Finch.

When seeking his nomination as leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer traded on being a human rights barrister earlier in his career, in a chambers that primarily acted for the defence. But as Leader of the Opposition, and more significantly since he became Prime Minister, he repeatedly refers to his later role as Director of Public Prosecutions and his actions confirm his allegiance to a conservative-leaning state, as opposed to the protester.  

Internal controls on political opinions within the Labour Party, when in opposition, have now developed into significant support for executive controls on the expression of political opinions and acts of democratic protest in relation to those who do not agree with his government. It’s a tactic that may work when the apparatus of a party has been captured by members more interested in power than policies and principles. But with the current polling in support of the Prime Minister and the new government being historically low and the popular vote that propelled them into power being similarly meagre, a significant proportion of the population may grow to learn that opposition outside of the parliamentary process is the only means for the many to express economic, political and moral opinions.

They will be following in the steps of those who understood that the right to protest, in addition to the powers of both parliament and the courts are essential to hold in check an executive which overreaches itself. There are many examples of how the current executive believes that it is above both Parliament and the courts, but two current ones may be illustrative of where it is going.

The government’s current foreign policy in relation to the Middle East largely ignores international humanitarian and criminal law and also drains a failing national economy of resources needed to protect a significant range of those in need: the elderly, those with disabilities, asylum seekers, those without access to work or an income that meets their basic needs, to name but a few.

A competent and truly democratic government should recognise when its policies are not welcomed by a significant part of the population on whose behalf it claims to govern. It should also understand that democratic dissent cannot merely be frustrated by ministers within its executive.

For example, under the previous Conservative government, legislation was introduced to amend the Public Order Act 1986 in order to provide the police with more stringent powers to curtail the right to protest. Most amendments were eventually passed but the House of Lords used its powers to block an amendment in the Public Order Act 2003 Act, which redefined the meaning of the “serious disruption” required to trigger police powers to impose certain conditions on marches.

But in June 2023, the then Conservative Home Secretary introduced the Public Order Act (Serious Disruption to the Life of the Community) Regulations 2023 to amend the definition of “serious disruption” to mean “more than a minor disturbance”. The civil liberties group, Liberty, sought a judicial review of her actions and in the case of NCCL v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024, EWHC 1181], the High Court found that her use of secondary legislation to circumvent the decision previously made by Parliament was unlawful. The Tory Secretary of State appealed against this decision and the current Labour Secretary of State is maintaining this appeal. The Court of Appeal hearing took place on 4th and 5th December 2024 but the amended definition remains in place pending its decision.

As a consequence, the Metropolitan Police has been able to rely on this regulation to impose conditions on the march organised for Saturday 18th January 2025 by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop and War and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. It was due to start at the at the BBC building in Portland Place. The stated basis of the imposition was the presence of the Central Synagogue, which is nearby but not on the proposed route of the march. The police are asserting that the march will disrupt those wishing to attend the synagogue. This is despite there being no evidence of previous marches causing such disruption and the presence on each march of thousands of supportive members of the Jewish community. What is more apparent is that there is increasing public criticism of the BBC’s coverage of the conflicts in the Middle East and the devastation of Gaza.

At the same time, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is fighting a rearguard action to defend key parts of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, another piece of Tory legislation that the Labour government is now seeking to retain at least in part.  

Northern Ireland had developed a range of legal bodies to investigate a significant number of killings which took place between 1st January 1966 and 10th April 1998 (deemed by the previous Tory government as the period of the Northern Ireland Troubles). These included inquests chaired by High Court judges, judicial reviews and other actions in the civil courts and inquiries carried out by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. Many of these changes had been driven by senior members of the Northern Ireland judiciary and dedicated lawyers. In recent years, these processes revealed the widespread involvement of members of the British Army, the Ulster Defence Regiment, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, MI5, MI6 and members of Loyalist paramilitary organisations in the killing of civilians and the unlawful use of shoot to kill policies against possible combatants.

Despite promises by the Labour government to reopen, or even open for the first time, inquests into killings during this period and accompanying civil actions, this has not happened. More significantly, the Secretary of State has stressed that he will maintain the cornerstone of the Legacy Act. This is the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery. Many of its staff, including its Commissioner for Investigations, are former members of the Police Service for Northern Ireland and some will be conflicted when dealing with some enquiries due to their previous knowledge of and involvement in the cases being scrutinised. In addition, in the past, delays to inquests and inquiries were often due to a failure by the police and other security services to disclose essential evidence of the circumstances surrounding the killings. Despite this, the Secretary of State will hold even wider powers to limit disclosure and on wider grounds than national security in relation to cases coming before the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

With the support of the government, the existence of the ICRIR is also being used to frustrate public inquiries. One of the last inquests that was being held in Northern Ireland before the Legacy Act came into force was that of Sean Brown, a Gaelic Athletic Association official, who was abducted and killed in 1997 by a paramilitary group, the Loyalist Volunteer Force. The coroner, Mr. Justice Keaney, found that he could not complete the inquest as state authorities were withholding essential intelligence material. Therefore, he asked the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to establish a public inquiry into Mr. Brown’s death.

This did not happen, but in December 2024, Mr. Justice Humphreys sitting in the High Court in Northern Ireland found that a failure to establish such an enquiry was in breach of the duty to prove the full extent of state collusion in Mr. Brown’s death. He also found that Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights contained clear and unambiguous obligations to establish such a public enquiry.

Despite these clear findings, the Labour Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has appealed this decision to the Court of Appeal of Northern Ireland and asserted that it can be dealt with by the ICRIR.

These are actions by the executive which pay scant regard to decisions by the judiciary or accepted parliamentary procedures.

Nadine Finch is a former barrister who specialised in human rights law and is the author of several books on family, immigration and comparative law. She writes in a personal capacity.

 

An Open Letter to Frederick Forsyth: Writing the truth about Chile, Allende, and Pinochet

HubMP2012

JANUARY 16, 2025

Pedro Alejandro Matta sets the record straight.

Frederick Forsyth is famous for his gripping portrayals of spies, assassins, and the assorted heroes and villains of the Cold War. Some of his best known works were made into movies and are based in historical events (The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Dogs of War, to mention just a few). Readers have the not unreasonable expectation that historical personalities in his books are presented accurately. 

Yet in his recent autobiography, The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue, he alludes to real events in Chile, while engaging in serious factual distortion. He writes: 

“Years after Berlin, the pretty vicious DINA, the secret police of the not-so-saintly Salvador Allende of Chile, transferred without a blip to the service of General Pinochet. They even used the same torture chambers. Only the victims changed.” (Penguin Random House, 2017, Chapter “Helping out the cousins”, page 152).

With a little basic research, from sources readily available in London, Mr. Forsyth would have discovered that the dictator Pinochet’s DINA was entirely his own creation and had nothing to do with President Allende, his democratically elected predecessor. There was in fact no police force remotely similar to the DINA under Allende, no torture centres, no forced disappearance of political adversaries, as was indisputably the grim reality under Pinochet. 

In October 1998, General Pinochet was arrested by Scotland Yard in London at the request of a Spanish Court, which charged Pinochet with crimes against humanity, including disappearances, widespread torture and targeted assassinations in Chile and abroad. Among his victims, in addition to several thousand Chileans, were citizens of Spain, France, and the United States. 

His British victims were Michael Woodward, a Catholic Priest who died under torture on board the Esmeralda, the Chilean Navy training ship, William Beausire, and Alejandro Ávalos Davidson. 

During his detention in London, proceedings at the Bow Street Court publicly revealed the details of many of General Pinochet’s crimes. Although the court granted Spain’s request for his extradition, he was released “for health reasons” and allowed to return to Chile in March 2000. These facts were readily available, had Mr. Forsyth reviewed the London judicial record or the ample press coverage before writing the paragraph in question. 

In contrast, there is no factual basis for his libel against President Allende, whose government respected human rights and the rule of law even as he attempted to bring radical social change. 

I don’t know if Mr. Forsyth has visited Chile. I hope he comes again. I will be honoured to take him on a guided visit to Villa Grimaldi, or to Venda Sexy, two of the most notorious torture and disappearance centres of the Pinochet period, where Beausire, Ávalos and I were held and tortured. Unlike those two British citizens, I was able to survive.

Having said so, this is a standing invitation…

I certainly hope that in newer editions of his autobiography, Mr. Forsyth, a writer and a journalist, could correct the aforementioned paragraph, check his historical perspective, and be loyal to his motto: “Verify, verify, and verify again, rigorous accuracy and absolute impartiality. Then write…” 

Pedro Alejandro Matta  was a Law student at the University of Chile and a militant of the Socialist Youth at the time of the coup d’etat in September of 1973.  In 1975, he was kidnapped by the DINA and taken to Venda Sexy and then to Villa Grimaldi.  Later, and after 13 months of political detention, with no charges filed, nor ever been taken to a court of law, he was forced into exile.  Since his return following the end of the dictatorship, he has been involved in investigations about human rights and crimes committed during the dictatorship. 

Image: Venda Sexy, clandestine torture centre under Pinochet.

UK

Covid: Expert panel reports on NHS privatisation

By the Public Interest Law Centre

JANUARY 16, 2025

The Public Interest Law Centre’s latest report Forty years of failure: private sector contracting and its impact on the NHS provides timely and shocking findings with the ongoing Covid-19 Inquiry. 

For Module 3 of the Covid-19 Inquiry, we wanted to provide a current and historical analysis of the impact that outsourcing and privatisation has had on the NHS. On behalf of the Frontline Migrant Healthcare Workers Group (FMHWG), we asked the Inquiry to commission a report.  They refused our request.

 Together with FMHWG, we felt we had no choice but to commission a report to provide it as evidence to the Covid-19 public inquiry ourselves.

Join us and an expert panel to discuss the findings at the online launch on January 23rd at 6pm. Please register to reserve your spot and share the event here.

Speakers include Dr John Lister and Piers Marquis, UVW Union and IWGB Union.

 Homes for families, not investors

JANUARY 17, 2025

Labour should emulate radical policies being adopted elsewhere, argues Andrew Fisher.

Housing is an essential need and therefore a basic human right. Democratic governments should therefore protect the right to housing.

In common with many other countries, the UK has a housing crisis – a crisis of availability, affordability and quality. But in the UK the crisis is particularly acute: this week a Resolution Foundation report found housing in the UK costs 44% more than the OECD average.

This week Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill was debated in the Commons. It will ban no fault evictions and cap the level of deposit that landlords can demand. These are modest improvements, but will do little to address the overall housing crisis.

The Labour Party needs to get more radical and to do so it need only look to other centre-left governments which have taken more decisive action.

This week the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, announced that Spain would impose a tax of up to 100% on the value of Spanish properties bought by non-residents from countries outside the EU.

It’s a good policy, and something we should consider in the UK. Housing should provide homes for people, not investment opportunities for international speculators.  

During the pandemic, the Sánchez government also capped rental increases to protect renters, capped energy price rises and increased taxes on the richest. His left-wing government was one of the few incumbents to buck the trend in 2023 and hold onto office.

In the UK, Labour could go further and ban foreign ownership of housing as the Trudeau government in Canada did in 2023. That ban has just been extended until 2027. The Trudeau government has also increased investment in federal housing.

Our Labour government can also look closer to home for inspiration – where the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales have both outright banned right-to-buy, to stop the leakage of council homes that in England has meant the social housing stock continues to dwindle – 40% of the homes sold under right-to-buy are now owned by private landlords.

The Scottish government, pushed by Scottish Labour, introduced a rent freeze in 2022, which was followed by a 3% cap in 2023. Unfortunately by announcing this in advance and not making it retrospective, the SNP government gave landlords time to hike rents before the freeze could take effect.

In Wales, the Labour government allowed councils to charge significantly higher council tax on second homes. From April 2023, the amount of council tax paid by second-home owners in Wales rose by 200%.

If you are not resident in a country there is an easy political argument to make that you have no reason to own a property there. That ban should also apply to foreign-owned companies and offshore trusts, which also have no need to own property.

But more radically, we also need to think about limiting the number of homes a person can own. Welsh Labour has taxed second homes, but why not cap home ownership to two? Why should some people have dozens, when many cannot afford one? Housing is not a luxury good, but an essential.

I have no problem with investors buying up artworks, antiques, stamps or any other non-essential goods, but housing is an essential good – a necessity, and cannot be left unregulated.

The Labour government needs to show working class people it is on their side. Protecting homes for families – and blocking or taxing investors – is good policy and good politics.

Around the world, governments of the centre-left are becoming more radical on housing. Labour should learn from them or it will pay the price.

Andrew Fisher was Director of Policy of the Labour Party 2015-19.

UK

TODAY

Palestine march organisers defiant in face of police repression

Organisers are defying the cops and called on people to assemble on Whitehall at 12noon

On the last national demonstration for Palestine (Photo: Guy Smallman)

By Tomáš Tengely-Evans
Friday 17 January 2025

SOCIALIST WORKER Issue 2938

The organisers of the Palestine national demonstration on Saturday are defying police attempts to repress the march.

The Metropolitan Police wanted to stop people from protesting outside the BBC HQ in central London—and now from assembling on Whitehall. But the organisers are standing firm.

The Met tried to sow confusion about the assembly point on Thursday night, saying the “only permitted form up point is Russell Square”.

“Our position on Saturday’s Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstration has not changed,” it said. “We have set out a route for people to exercise their right to protest and that is the route they should use.”

But Stop The War said, “To be clear, there is no Russell Square assembly or ‘route’—we will assemble at Whitehall at noon.”

This will be the 23rd national demonstration since Israel launched the genocide in Gaza.

The mobilisations have been organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop The War Coalition, Friends of Al Aqsa, the Muslim Association of Britain and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

A statement from the organisers said, “Over the past week, the Metropolitan Police have imposed a series of repressive conditions to prevent us from protesting at the BBC as previously agreed. Last night, this reached the absurd point of the police announcing that our march would commence at Russell Square—something that we have never expressed any intention of doing.

“Grotesquely, the Board of Deputies put out a statement making clear that they had advised the police to impose this route. We decide where we protest, not pro-Israel organisations. The police have now accepted that they cannot force us to go to Russell Square.

“We will assemble on Whitehall at 12 noon. We reiterate our call for the police to lift the repressive restrictions and allow us to march. If they continue to refuse to do so and prevent us from marching, we will be rallying on Whitehall in protest.”

The anti-war movement has a long history of defying police restrictions. In 2007 the cops tried to ban a STW march to parliament. Labour MP Tony Benn told a press conference, “I will be marching. It is entirely up to the police and government what they do.” Organisers made clear they would continue to parliament—and the cops backed off.

In 2008 police wanted to stop a march down Whitehall when the then United States president George Bush came to Britain. A STW spokesperson told the media, “We will defy the ban”—and the march went ahead.

In 2003, Labour’s culture secretary Tessa Jowell approved a ban on the 15 February demonstration against the war in Iraq “because of fears it might damage the grass” in Hyde Park. Two million people gathered in Hyde Park on the day and marched.

The best way to defend the right to protest is to use it—and there is widespread support for the march.

A statement initiated by the organisers last week was signed by over 30 MPs, several trade union general secretaries and prominent figures such as actor Mark Rylance.

It said, “We strongly condemn police attempts to stop an agreed march for Palestine from protesting at the BBC on 18 January. The route for the march was confirmed with the police nearly two months ago and, as agreed with them, was publicly announced on 30 November.

“The BBC is a major institution—it is a publicly‑funded state broadcaster and is rightly accountable to the public. The police should not be misusing public order powers to shield the BBC from democratic scrutiny.”

“The British state is pushing the lie that opposition to Israel is antisemitic and the Palestine movement is a threat to Jewish people.

“The excuse offered by the police is that the march could cause disruption to a nearby synagogue which is not even on the march route,” said the statement.

“Any suggestion that pro‑Palestine marches are somehow hostile to Jewish people ignores the fact that Jewish people have been joining the marches in their thousands.”

Stop The War convenor Lindsey German last week told Socialist Worker, “We reject the attempts to stop us from marching.

“This is a draconian measure which prevents us protesting over Palestine on any Saturday in the West End of London.

“The BBC coverage has been really poor and we believe it is a democratic right to be able to protest there. The genocide in Gaza is horrific and must be opposed. We cannot allow a situation where the police are shielding it from legitimate criticism.”

It’s right to defy the police.Join the protest 12 noon, Saturday 18 January, Whitehall, central London

Palestine Solidarity Campaign march to go ahead as more Palestinians killed despite ceasefire deal

Olivia Barber 

Yesterday

Left Foot Forward

‘Many more could be killed in the coming days. This violence must end immediately.’

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s national demonstration will go ahead this Saturday as a ceasefire deal in Gaza draws nearer.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) reported that in the last week the Met police has imposed “repressive restrictions” preventing the group from protesting outside the BBC’s HQ, as previously agreed.

Despite the news of a ceasefire deal on Wednesday, Palestinian authorities reported that Israeli attacks had killed at least 86 Palestinians in the day following the announcement.

In a statement, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) said it shares “the immense relief expressed by Palestinians at the ceasefire agreement that promises to stop the immediate catastrophic loss of life caused by Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip”.

The PSC added that “Despite this agreement, Israel is continuing to kill Palestinians, and its government has not yet endorsed the deal.”

“Many more could be killed in the coming days. This violence must end immediately”, the statement added.

A vote initially planned for Thursday was delayed, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating his cabinet would not meet until “Hamas accepts all elements of the agreement.”

Israel’s cabinet is expected to convene a meeting today to approve the Gaza ceasefire agreement, with the ceasefire set to take effect on Sunday.

The PSC said that “ending the bombing is only the start” and that Israel’s blockade on Gaza must end to allow humanitarian aid including food and medical supplies to enter.

The group stressed that the ceasefire must be permanent, and said “we will continue our campaigning until Israel’s system of apartheid is dismantled”.

On the location of the protest, the PSC statement said that they will assemble on Whitehall at midday on Saturday.

The PSC said it had previously announced that they would assemble outside the BBC “to protest against the pro-Israel bias of its coverage”, something that journalist Owen Jones recently outlined in a report, which they said the BBC has yet to respond to.

The police have said the reason for not allowing the march to take place outside the BBC is that it could cause disruption to a nearby synagogue.

Commander Adam Slonecki, who is leading the policing operation this weekend, said: “Our role is not to take sides.

“We police without fear or favour and we have taken the decisions we have motivated only by the need to ensure groups can exercise their right to peaceful protest, while also ensuring the wider community can go about their lives without serious disruption.”

Slonecki added: “I know some reporting has suggested that this is a ban on protests outside the BBC in general. This is absolutely not the case.

“We recognise why the PSC want to protest at the BBC and we’ve offered to work with them in considering alternative days of the week to do so, where we could be confident that they wouldn’t cause serious disruption to the lives of those attending the synagogue.”

However, PSC said that last night, they reached “the absurd point of the police announcing that our march would commence at Russell Square – something that we have never expressed any intention of doing”.

The PSC’s statement said that the Board of Deputies, an organisation that represents British Jews, had advised the police to impose this route.

“We decide where we protest, not pro-Israel organisations. The police have now accepted that they cannot force us to go to Russell Square,” the PSC said.

They added: “We reiterate our call for the police to lift the repressive restrictions and allow us to march. If they continue to refuse to do so and prevent us from marching, we will be rallying on Whitehall in protest.”

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

Palestinians celebrate ceasefire, but Israel plans more attacks

The ceasefire comes over 15 months since Israel launched its genocide

Trump and Netanyahu shaking hands (Picture: D.Myles Cullen)

By Arthur Townend
Wednesday 15 January 2025

SOCIALIST WORKER Issue

After 15 months of Israel’s genocide and murder of over 46,500 Palestinians, the terror state has agreed to a ceasefire.

The Palestinians remain undefeated in the face of the Israeli onslaught and prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s promise of an “absolute victory”.

Gaza burst into celebration after it was announced on Wednesday evening that a ceasefire is set to begin on Sunday.

Palestinian journalist Alaa Salameh, who has been displaced to al-Mawasi, spoke to Socialist Worker immediately after the ceasefire announcement. She said, “Gazans will now have the time to mourn those we lost and those who are still buried under the rubble and who are missed.

“We will have time to cry and be sad. People here want to live in dignity and we have hopes for the future.”

The ceasefire will come into effect this Sunday, and this first phase will last for six weeks. Hamas has agreed to release 33 prisoners in return for hundreds of Palestinians that Israel has held hostage.

But the exact details of the implementation of the ceasefire are still to be worked out. Qatar and Egypt will work to ensure the implementation of the first phase.

As part of the deal, Israel must withdraw its forces to areas no closer than 700 metres inside Gaza’s border. Israel will also allow Palestinians to return to their homes in the occupied areas of the territory.

But Israel retains the right to “re-engage” in Gaza. According to analyst Dan Perry, “If reports are to be believed, then Israel will not get back all of its hostages until it pulls out of Gaza and essentially ends the war.”

Joe Biden said that the agreement is partially due to “dogged and painstaking American diplomacy”. “My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done,” he added.

But it is the United States that has consistently enabled Binyamin Netanyahu to continue the genocide. It is a cruel joke that “Genocide Joe” can claim any stake in the agreement—it is Biden who underwrote and enabled Israel’s horrors in Gaza.

The pressure from president-elect Donald Trump has likely pushed Israel into accepting a temporary ceasefire and he threatened Hamas with “hell” if it did not release hostages before his inauguration. But Trump’s pro-imperialism and pro-Zionism means any future agreement will serve Israel—and the West’s—interest.

During the first phase, the second and third phases of the ceasefire will be worked out. Currently, Israel would have to completely withdraw from Gaza.

But here there is huge uncertainty. Far right ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet have said they will vote against any ceasefire—and far right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has threatened to resign. If Netanyahu loses far right support, his coalition government will collapse. So a permanent ceasefire is far from assured.

“We still have fears about Israel’s commitments to accomplish all phases of deal,” Alaa added.

Indeed, Israel slaughtered 62 people on Wednesday. Journalist Hani Mahmoud, reporting from al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza, said, “These coming days until Sunday are very critical times, and people here expect a surge in Israeli attacks.”

In the final hours before the ceasefire in Lebanon, Israel pounded Beirut. Until Sunday, Israel will continue to bombard Gaza. Israel has a bloody history of violating peace agreements to expand its destruction and murder.

“People want to go back to their homes, to gather their shattered hearts, to hug their loved ones. People here prove that they deserve life for their strength under Israel’s inhumane war that targets their very existence,” Alaa said.

Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said, “The barbaric war of extermination that the Israeli occupation and its backers have carried out over 467 days will forever be engraved in the memory of our people and the world. We won’t forget, and we won’t forgive.”

Israel and its Western backers authored this genocide. There must be no let-up in the Palestine movement until it is free from the river to the sea.

Take to the streets in London this Saturday, fight to stop British state’s arms sales to Israel and break its links with the terror state.

Badenoch admits Tories had ‘no plan’ for post-Brexit Britain

Olivia Barber

16 January, 2025

Left Foot Forward

‘I will acknowledge the Conservative Party made mistakes’

Kemi Badenoch is set to admit that the Tories “made mistakes”, including deciding to leave the EU without a plan.

Today Badenoch will make her first major speech as leader of the Conservative Party, on rebuilding trust in the political party.

She will say: “We announced that we would leave the European Union before we had a plan for growth outside the EU.”

The British economy will be £311bn worse off by 2035 due to leaving the EU, according to a report by data consultancy Cambridge Econometrics.

The UK is also anticipated to have three million fewer jobs, 32% lower investment, 5% lower exports and 16% lower imports, than it would have if Brexit had not happened.

Recent research by the Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy (CITP) found that exports of British food to the EU have decreased by an average of £2.8 billion per year since the Brexit transition period ended in January 2021.

Badenoch will also concede that the Conservatives did not have a plan in place for achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 before it became law.

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

UK Manufacturing workers to strike after bosses reject demand for £1 pay rise

Olivia Barber

Yesterday
Left Foot Forward

‘It’s time for company bosses to get back around the table and deliver the goods.’

Manufacturing workers at a factory in Walsall are set to strike next month after their demand for a £1 increase in pay was rejected by management.

Workers at CNC Speedwell factory, who produce spare parts for vehicle manufacturers Volvo, Scania, and DAF, have voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking strike action, GMB union has announced.

In a statement, GMB said staff are furious after company managers rejected demands for a pay rise of just £1.

Industrial action could take place as early as February, with around 150 workers expected to walk out.

GMB has said the strikes could cause delays of a month for the HGV giants the factory supplies parts to.

Chris Hoofe, organiser at GMB, said: “These workers are key to the Heavy Goods Vehicle sector, producing components for companies across the UK.

“This strike could have a real impact and even a month of delays for some of the biggest brands in the industry.

“It’s time for company bosses to get back around the table and deliver the goods”.

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

Labour activist tears apart Elon Musk leaving GB News panellists shocked

Basit Mahmood 

Yesterday
Left Foot Forward

“It is almost treasonous to suggest that Musk should be welcomed into UK politics with open arms to subvert our democracy.”  

A Labour activist and commentator tore into Elon Musk on right-wing channel GB News, leaving other panellists who praised the tech billionaire fuming.

The Saturday Five programme on GB News featured, Peter Barnes, Dr Renee Hoenderkamp, presenter Alex Armstrong, Adam Brooks and Cai Wilshaw. While the others praised Musk for challenging the mainstream media, Wilshaw slammed Musk for not giving a damn about the victims of sexual abuse.

Asked about how he felt about Elon Musk’s recent interventions in British politics, Wilshaw replied: “It’s not beyond the wit of man to see that having peed off the hard-right in the U.S. Elon Musk is trying to distract from that by getting involved in German politics, UK politics, the idea that he cares about the victims of sexual abuse is as ridiculous as it is pathetic, he cares about his business interests and expanding the filthy lucre that he’s gathered.

“It is almost treasonous to suggest that he should be welcomed into UK politics with open arms to subvert our democracy.”

Musk has come in for criticism in recent weeks after posting a series of false claims about UK MPs and the grooming gangs scandal on his X platform, falsely accusing ministers of inaction over gang rape and child abuse.

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward

Opinion

Labour hasn’t delivered growth or happiness. It needs an economic reset.

Prem Sikka 

Yesterday

Left Foot Forward.

Successive governments have tailored economic and tax policies to impoverish the masses

After barely six months in office, major questions are being asked about the UK government’s economic strategy. It seeks economic growth but evidence from the last 14 years shows that it can’t be achieved through austerity and cuts to wages and public services.

Four months ago, Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised that his government will not be “going down the road of austerity”. Three months ago, the Chancellor raised taxes in order “to prevent austerity and rebuild public services“. In November 2024, the Chancellor said she is “not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes“. This week, the Prime Minister said that the Treasury will be “ruthless” in cutting spending on public services. Cutting public services means cuts to wages of public sector workers, benefits for the poor, old, sick and disabled; less spending on purchases from the private sector leading to further squeeze on jobs, wages and household budgets.

Cutting public spending is destructive. After 14 years of austerity the waiting list for hospital appointments in England has increased from 2.5m to 7.6m, the average real wage has declined to the 2008 level, leaving 16m Britons to live in poverty. The headline rate of minimum wage is to rise by 6.7% from April 2025, £12.21 per hour, but most of it is already wiped out by higher cost of food, energy, housing, council tax, water, broadband, transport and other essentials.

The promise of ‘ruthless’ cuts follow continuing erosion of household incomes. The government has continued with the Tory two-child benefit cap. This has been followed by cuts in winter fuel payment payments to pensioners below the poverty line. Despite promises of no tax rises for ordinary workers, real levels of income tax will rise because the government will adhere to the Tory freeze on annual personal allowance, fixed at £12,570 until 2028.

The government is boxed-in by its pre-election promises of reducing the public debt as a proportion of the economy by 2029, and no rise in the headline rates of income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, VAT and National Insurance for employees. It can’t deliver these pledges without an economic reset.

The priority must be to improve the purchasing power of the bottom 50% of the population. Without good disposable income people cannot afford to buy goods and services and that is a massive disincentive to invest in productive assets. The UK has been bottom of the G7 league for investment in productive assets in 24 out of last 30 years. It ranks 28th among 31 OECD countries. Therefore, a focus on redistribution and improving the spending power is vital.

For nearly 50 years, household incomes have been eroded by anti-trade union laws, zero hour contracts, fire and rehire at lower pay and other developments. Workers’ share of GDP, in the form of wages and salaries, has declined from 65.1% in 1976 to barely 50% now. The most recent estimate (November 2024) of the median annual wage is £29,664. Some 17.8m adults have annual income of less than £12,570 and reply upon benefits and charity to survive. In April 2024, it was estimated that for a minimum standard of living, a single person needs annual income of £28,000, and a couple with two children need to earn £69,400 a year between them. Last year, some 3.12m people used food banks.

Successive governments have hit the poor by adopting regressive taxation policies. The richest fifth pay 31% of gross household income in direct taxes; compared to 14% for the poorest fifth. The richest fifth pay 9% of disposable income in indirect taxes; compared to 28% for the poorest fifth. Altogether, the poorest pay higher proportion of income in tax.

Faced with shrinking incomes, people cut discretionary expenditure which reduces business activity. Around 7.9m people have no savings and more than 21m – almost one third of Brits – have less than £1,500 in reserve. The bottom 50% of the population has 5% of wealth, and the bottom fifth has only 0.5% of the national wealth. The inequitable distribution of income and wealth means that governments are increasingly reliant upon a shrinking proportion of the population for stimulation of economic growth.

The spending power of a large proportion of the population has been systematically eroded, and most people are in no position to stimulate the economy. The government has numerous policy choices. These include improving workers’ bargaining power by strengthening the position of trade unions, a higher living wage, triple-lock on social security benefits and a state pension which is not less than the national living wage. The spending power of the people at the bottom can be improved by abolishing VAT on domestic fuel, cutting the standard rate of VAT and increasing tax-free personal allowance by £1,000 a year, with the ultimate aim of aligning them with the minimum wage. People’s purchasing power needs to be increased by controlling profiteering, especially in energy, water, banking and other sectors. This will benefit not only households but also businesses. Too many businesses are weighed down by excessive rents, energy and water costs.

Businesses need to be run for the benefit of society and all stakeholders, not just shareholders and executives. Therefore, democratisation of industry is necessary. Unlike shareholders, workers have a long-term interest in the wellbeing of companies. All large companies must have worker-elected directors on their boards. Thus, giving them a say in how wealth generated with their blood and sweat is to be shared amongst stakeholders. Hard-pressed customers must be empowered to vote on executive pay at water, rail, mail, banks, insurance, internet, phone, energy and other industries to ensure that they are not exploited by companies exercising monopolistic powers.

Austerity policies and cuts in public services have increased economic inactivity. In November 2024, 6.28m individuals were waiting for 7.48m hospital appointments in England. People struggle to get access to dentists and family doctors. Some 2.8m people are chronically ill and unable to work. Around 16.1m people suffer from disabilities, and 23% of these are working age adults. Years of low wages and benefits, poor housing, and public service cuts have delivered a huge blow to household incomes and must be reversed by greater investment in healthcare.

Currently, some childcare support is available to entice single parents to work and fill the gaps, but it is inadequate and expensive. To enable more people to work, free childcare must be provided.

Any mention of improving people’s economic condition always leads to questions of how is it to be paid. Neoliberals never ask that question when the public purse is opened to help corporations and the rich. For example, after the 2007-08 financial crash, the government provided £1,162bn of cash and guarantees to bail out the banking industry. Another £895bn of quantitative easing was provided to support capital markets. Governments have bailed out banks and energy companies, provided subsidies to oil, gas, coal, steel, auto, rail, water, internet, arms and many other industries. Yet the same considerations are not applied to welfare of the people and services that enable people to work and generate wealth.

The government can create money to achieve equitable society and withdraw the amounts causing inflation through selective taxation from the parties making excessive gains. Governments must also focus on leakage of tax revenues. HMRC admits that it failed to collect over £500bn in taxes since 2010. Others say it is closer to around £1,400bn. This does not include taxes lost due to profit shifting by large corporations or money stashed in tax havens by the rich.

The government can eliminate regressive tax policies. For example, it needs to tax capital gains and dividends at the same rates as wages. By restricting tax relief on pension contributions to 20% for everyone, i.e. denying the 40% and 45% tax relief to higher earners, the government can generate surplus of £14.5bn. It can replace council tax by local income tax. There are numerous other alternatives ranging from windfall taxes, wealth taxes to financial transactions tax, but governments have got used to squeezing low and middle income families.

Improving the disposable income of the masses is the key to securing economic growth and building a sustainable economy. Low and Middle income families tend to spend money on everyday items and this has a greater multiplier effect on the local economies. Higher disposable income for the masses lifts people out of poverty and reduces pressure on the NHS, social services and benefit claims. Yet successive governments have tailored economic and tax policies to impoverish the masses. Such policies have neither delivered economic growth nor happiness, and must be abandoned.

Prem Sikka is an Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex and the University of Sheffield, a Labour member of the House of Lords, and Contributing Editor at Left Foot Forward.

Image credit – Keir Starmer – Creative Commons

 

New register opens to crown Champion Trees across the U.S.

The National Champion Tree Program reveals new data management system for big trees

University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture

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The 2024 National Champion Tree Register features the largest documented trees across the U.S. such as the National Champion Sitka Spruce, which people can see in Olympic National Park in Washington state.
 

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Credit: Photo credit: Brian Kelley, Gathering Growth Foundation, with permission from American Forests.

The National Champion Tree Program (NCTP) announced its first Register of Champion Trees since 2021. The program moved from American Forests to the University of Tennessee School of Natural Resources in 2023 and has spent the past year working with state-level Champion Tree programs across the U.S. to update outdated records and verify the newly crowned champions.

“We are thrilled beyond measure to share the list of the largest documented trees in the United States,” Jaq Payne, NCTP director, said. “These trees are more than just numbers on a website. They're living, breathing members of our community. I hope this register encourages folks to start looking at the trees around them with fresh eyes.” Payne announced the new register and NCTP Data Management System at the program’s Root Ball at the UT Conference Center in downtown Knoxville on Saturday, January 18. The register started as a short list of 77 big trees in the April 1941 edition of American Forests magazine. By 2021, it had grown to 562 Champion Trees across the country.

“Since moving to the University of Tennessee, the NCTP continues the vital work of identifying, documenting and protecting these gentle giants,” Jad Daley, president and CEO of American Forests, said. “Building on its rich legacy, the program is deepening partnerships with communities, researchers and conservation groups to better understand the ecological significance of these trees. Together, we strive to inspire greater stewardship of the natural world and ensure these majestic champions thrive for generations to come." American Forests is providing $200,000 through April 2025 to support the program’s move to UT.

The UT Institute of Agriculture Information Technology Services team, including Riley Fox, Tammy McKinley and Billy Williams, worked with Payne to build the new National Champion Tree Register and Data Management System. They also trained state coordinators on using the system to enter big tree information. Payne said, “As we settle into our new home at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, we are reviving the original vision from the September 1940 issue of American Forests magazine to establish ‘a nationwide laboratory for tree and forestry studies by future generations.’”

Anyone can access the new data management system through the program’s website. There you can find Champion Trees for different species, see the trees’ measurements and read the cultural importance of the trees, if known. “We wanted to create an experience that includes the rich history of these individuals,” Payne added. The program is still collecting the trees’ histories and would appreciate any help from community members.

Champion Trees are identified based on a point system including the trunk circumference, height and average crown spread. After members of the public nominate trees, the NCTP works with state coordinators to verify the submissions and their measurements. Verified trees are then added to the data management system. National Champion Trees are crowned once every two years and must be re-verified every 10 years.

The program plans to start taking nominations for new Champion Trees on its website in February. The list of eligible tree species for the 2025-2026 register will be released at the end of January and is expected to include more than 1,200 species of trees native and naturalized to the U.S., a steep increase from the 900 species eligible for the 2024 register. For the first time in the program’s 84-year history, an additional list of “culturally important non-native” eligible species will be included to represent common, widely recognized urban species previously not found on the register.

Nominations for potential Champion Trees will stay open through August 2025.

The National Champion Tree Program’s mission is to protect, preserve and keep record of the largest trees in the United States through public education and engagement.

The UT School of Natural Resources focuses on a mastery learning approach, emphasizing practical, hands-on experiences. The school’s faculty, staff and students advance the science and sustainable management of our natural resources through various programs of the UT Institute of Agriculture (UTIA). UTIA is comprised of the Herbert College of Agriculture, UT College of Veterinary Medicine, UT AgResearch and UT Extension. Through its land-grant mission of research, teaching and extension, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. to Tennesseans and beyond. utia.tennessee.edu