CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

UK

TSB says Meta’s Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram drive 80% of fraud


Vicky Shaw and Alys Key
Fri, 5 May 2023 

Mark Zuckerberg owns Meta (Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP via Getty Images)

Fraudsters are using sites in Mark Zuckerberg’s social media empire to target “innocent” users, a major UK bank has warned.

TSB said its own data showed that eight in every 10 instances of the most common scams originate on services such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

The bank identified purchase fraud, impersonation, and sham investments as the biggest categories of scams it monitors. Some 80 per cent of these types of scams take place on Meta-owned platforms.

TSB analysed its customer fraud data from January 2021 to December 2022 to make the findings. The data relates to cases where the platform has been recorded.

Different platforms are more prone to certain types of scam. In 65 per cent of impersonation scams, such as the infamous “hi mum” text, fraudsters are using Whatsapp, TSB said. Investment scams, meanwhile, are most likely to originate on Instagram, where 59 per cent of instances take place, followed by Facebook with 22 per cent.

TSB fraud experts are urging people to watch out for unsolicited messages claiming to be from family or close friends. They advise contacting the person directly, if possible, before ever sending a payment.

They are also urging potential investors to stick to recognised investment platforms and to steer clear of social media “get-rich-quick” schemes.

TSB launched its own fraud refund guarantee in 2019 and it said 97 per cent of fraud cases it sees are reimbursed through this.

The guarantee covers customers who are innocent victims of fraud on their TSB accounts. Under the guarantee, customers are not reimbursed if, for example, they are found to have been involved in the fraud themselves or deemed to have abused the guarantee.

Paul Davis, director of fraud prevention at TSB, said: “Social media companies must urgently clean up their platforms to protect the countless innocent people who use their services every day.

“In the meantime, we are urging the public to remain cautious to potential scam content — and to spread the word to help protect those around you.

Social media companies must urgently clean up their platforms to protect the countless innocent people who use their services every day
Paul Davis, TSB

“It’s high time that social media and telephone companies took financial liability for the rising levels of fraud taking place on their platforms.

“Our fraud refund guarantee continues to play a vital, often life-changing role in returning money to innocent victims of fraud, who fall foul due to vulnerabilities in other sectors.”

Meta is working with Stop Scams UK to help victims and remove scams at the source.

It recently launched Stop. Think. Call., a scams awareness campaign by WhatsApp and the National Trading Standards’ Friends Against Scams campaign, with support from Citizens’ Advice.

It also recently rolled out a new process requiring financial services advertisers targeting users in the UK to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.

We don't want anyone to fall victim to these criminals, which is why our platforms have systems to block scams, financial services advertisers now have to be FCA-authorised, and we run consumer-awareness campaigns on how to spot fraudulent behaviour

Meta spokesperson

A Meta spokesperson said: “This is an industry-wide issue and scammers are using increasingly sophisticated methods to defraud people in a range of ways including email, SMS, and offline.

“We don’t want anyone to fall victim to these criminals, which is why our platforms have systems to block scams, financial services advertisers now have to be FCA-authorised, and we run consumer-awareness campaigns on how to spot fraudulent behaviour.

“People can also report this content in a few simple clicks and we work with the police to support their investigations.”

Earlier this week, the Government unveiled a new fraud strategy, which will include banning cold calls on financial products, such as those relating to insurance or sham cryptocurrency schemes.

It also plans to work with Ofcom to use new technology to further clamp down on number “spoofing”, so fraudsters cannot impersonate legitimate UK phone numbers.

Under the plans, banks will also be allowed to delay payments from being processed for longer to allow for suspect payments to be investigated.

The Government said it will also ban other devices or methods commonly harnessed by scammers to reach thousands of people at once — such as so-called “sim farms” — and review the use of mass-texting services to keep these technologies out of the hands of criminals.

Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at consumer group Which?, said: “The Online Safety Bill has been going through Parliament for more than a year and progress has been much too slow, with people still being scammed every day.”

UK

Domino’s turns to collection to avoid the hit of delivery driver pay rises


Daniel O'Boyle
Thu, 4 May 2023 

Domino’s UK said more customers are using its app than its other online order services 

(Domino’s/PA) (PA Media)

Pizza chain Domino’s said it would focus more on collections so it can limit the impact of rising delivery driver pay on its bottom line.

Sales for the three months to 26 March grew to a record £386.6m. However, the 10.7% rise in sales, before the impact of lastr year’s hike in VAT, was well below food inflation. According to the ONS, a basket of flour, tomatoes, cheese and sliced meat was 31% more expensive this March than it was a year earlier.

Collection orders grew much more quickly. This, the company said, helped it avoid rising labour costs by ‘outsourcing’ work to customers.

“Collection represents the most efficient labour channel, with delivery effectively outsourced to the customer,” Domino’s said. “This is particularly important in an environment where there are pressures on labour availability and wage inflation.”

While it took a larger slice of the UK takeaway market in Q1, the company said the sector as a whole was “challenging”.

Interim CEO Elias Diaz Sese said: “Whilst this year has started well for Domino’s, there continues to be uncertainty in the economic environment with household budgets likely to remain under increasing pressure.

“However, we continue to be excited about the many opportunities we see for Domino's in 2023 and beyond as we continue to work towards our purpose of delivering a better future through food people love.

"We are well placed to succeed as we accelerate the execution of our strategy. We are focused on improving our franchise partners' profitability and we have made good progress in investing in the business and driving operational efficiencies.”

Domino’s added that sales were up 10.9% so far in the second quarter of the year.

Shares were up 5.4p to 307.2p as the company announced a £20 million share buyback. Analysts at Peel Hunt said Domino’s could give back £330 million in the next three years and still cut its debts.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Britain's scandal-hit tech champion to lay off 30pc of staff

Gareth Corfield
Thu, 4 May 2023

The Wandisco logo is seen on an LED screen in the background while a silhouetted person uses a smartphone - Alamy Stock Photo

Wandisco is to lay off a third of its staff as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) continues an investigation into alleged fraud at the British tech champion.

The company announced on Thursday that 30pc of employees will leave as part of a fresh cost-cutting drive.

Ken Lever, the former Biffa boss who is now Wandisco’s executive chairman, said: “Regrettably, the proposed action is a necessary step to responsibly position Wandisco for long term growth.”


The data replication company suspended its shares from trading on the Aim junior market in March after revealing a suspected $15m (£12.6m) accounting fraud.

An internal investigation found that $15m of revenues and $115m of sales the firm had reported were completely invented. Wandisco blamed the “potentially fraudulent irregularities” on “one senior sales employee”.

Forensic accountants from FRP Advisory are now combing through the Sheffield-based firm’s books, while the FCA opened an investigation into Wandisco in April.

Immediately before the share suspension Wandisco founder and chief executive David Richards suggested he was pursuing a dual UK-US listing for the £880m company.

Megabuyte analyst Tom Kennedy speculated in a client note that the headcount cuts could give the company a lifeline “until early 2024”, highlighting “its long history of very heavy cash burn.”.

“As we've previously noted, there are few, if any, capital raising routes left for Wandisco,” he added. “Shares are still suspended and investors will feel burned anyway.”

The company had $19m (£15.1m) in the bank at the end of last year. It introduced a four-day working week in February 2022.

Analyst firm Edison withdrew its coverage of Wandisco when the suspected fraud was first revealed, saying at the time: “Due to the nature of the ongoing investigations, we have not been able to speak to the company since the announcement.”

Prior to uncovering the accounting irregularities, Wandisco was a fast-growing software company worth almost £1bn.

Its business consists of helping companies move very large quantities of business data into the cloud, a process that is usually risky.

In January, the company said revenues had grown 230pc to $24m in 2022. On Thursday it warned that the true figure could be as low as $9m.

Mr Richards, who stepped down in April along with finance chief Erik Miller, declined to comment.

Separately, the finance chief of the most valuable semiconductor company listed on the London Stock Exchange will step down just days after it was forced to delay issuing its final accounts.

Shares in Alphawave IP, which designs tiny parts of microchips, plunged 20pc last week after the Anglo-Canadian company said its auditors KPMG would not be able to provide a final opinion on its accounts in time.

The company has suspended trading of its shares until its delayed accounts are published on or before May 12. The company said the delay was due to added complexities after it undertook a series of mergers.

Daniel Aharoni, the company's chief financial officer, will leave the company after the final results are revealed.

Christian Bowsher, senior director of finance at Alphawave, will serve as acting finance chief until a successor is found.

John Lofton Holt, Alphawave's executive chairman, said: “Daniel has been a key part of our journey since our IPO in 2021 and during the three transformational acquisitions we undertook in 2022.”

Heathrow operating contingency plans amid security guards strike


Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent
Thu, 4 May 2023 

Heathrow said the airport is operating as usual on Thursday despite a strike by security guards.

Members of the Unite union walked out in the first of a series of stoppages after talks over a pay dispute broke down on Wednesday evening.

Heathrow said its contingency plans are working well and no flights have been cancelled as a result of the industrial action.\

A Heathrow spokesman said: “Passengers can be reassured that they will travel as normal. This is an important time for the country, and we will not let these unnecessary strikes disrupt journeys.

“We have activated our contingency plans and deployed 750 additional colleagues and the entire management team who will be on hand in the terminals providing assistance to passengers.

“The majority of colleagues do not support strike action. Colleagues could have an inflation-matching pay increase for two years – 10% this year and a CPI-linked increase in 2024, as well as a £1,150 lump sum, but instead they’re left empty-handed by Unite’s refusal to allow members to vote on the offer.”

Unite regional co-ordinating officer Wayne King said: “Unite has given Heathrow Airport every opportunity to make an improved pay offer, which could have led to the strike action being suspended.

“Sadly, they refused to grasp the opportunity to make an offer which could meet members’ expectations.”

UK

More workers at Amazon to be balloted over possible industrial action

Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent
Fri, 5 May 2023 


More workers at online giant Amazon are to be balloted for strikes over pay.

The GMB said its members at Rugeley, in Staffordshire, and Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, will vote in the next few weeks on whether to launch a campaign of industrial action.

The GMB has already held a series of strikes at Amazon’s site in Coventry, which the union said is having a “domino effect” in other areas.

Workers have since submitted a request for union recognition after the GMB reached the membership threshold for mandatory recognition, which it said could mark Amazon’s first union recognition in Europe.

The ballots at Rugely and Mansfield will run until June 9.

Amanda Gearing, GMB Senior Organiser, said: “This is no time for sound bites; but Amazon workers are fighting back against a pay rise of pennies from one of the world’s wealthiest corporations.

“This escalation will see workers in two further fulfilment centres asked to have their say on downing tools and walking out to deliver pay justice.

“We’ve already seen enormous enthusiasm from workers at Mansfield and Rugeley to take action, now it’ll be up to them how their union moves forward with the campaign.

“We warned Amazon that this could fast become a summer of strike chaos if they refused to sit down and talk pay. Amazon Coventry workers have risen up, now we are seeing a domino effect.

“With strike action escalating and historical union recognition on the horizon, it’s time for Amazon to get real and get around the table”.

An Amazon spokesperson said: “We regularly review our pay to ensure we offer competitive wages, and recently announced another increase for our UK teams.

“Over the past seven months, our minimum pay has risen by 10% and by more than 37% since 2018. We also work hard to provide great benefits, a positive work environment and excellent career opportunities.

“These are just some of the reasons people want to come and work at Amazon, whether it’s their first job, a seasonal role or an opportunity for them to advance their career.”

We might be wrong about where the continents came from, study suggests


Andrew Griffin
Fri, 5 May 2023 

(Getty Images)

The Earth’s continents are part of the reason the Earth is habitable, and what makes it unique among the planets within our solar system. But they still remain largely mysterious, and scientists do not know why the Earth’s surface is divided into those important chunks.

Those continents were able to stand above sea level – itself necessary for terrestrial life – because the continental crust is lower in iron and more oxidised compared with that under the ocean. That means that the continents are less dense and more buoyant, which means they sit higher up.

One story suggests that happens because the crystallisation of the mineral garnet, which was proposed in 2018 and became a popular explanation of the formation of the earth as we know it. In that explanation, garnet crystallises in the magma beneath continental arc volcanos, where an oceanic plate goes beneath a continental one, and that process removes non-oxidised iron.

But the new study eliminates that hypothesis, as well as providing a better understanding of the continents. The team behind it looked for a way to test that hypothesis about the crystallisation of garnet, by replicating a version of that heat and pressure in the lab.

They did so by using “piston-cylinder presses”, which can apply huge amount of forces to tiny samples, as well as using a heating assembly that heats them up at the same time. In 13 different experiments, researchers grew samples of garnet from molten rock in conditions that were similar to those inside Earth’s crust.

Then they gathered samples of garnet from around the world. Those had been analysed so that their makeup was known, and researchers knew how much oxidised and unoxidised iron they had.

The researchers then compared the two, with X-ray beams that were used to understand their composition. They found that the garnets did not take enough unoxidised iron to account for the make-up present in the Earth.

“These results make the garnet crystallization model an extremely unlikely explanation for why magmas from continental arc volcanoes are oxidized and iron depleted,” said Elizabeth Cottrell, one of the researchers on the new paper, in a statement. “It’s more likely that conditions in Earth’s mantle below continental crust are setting these oxidized conditions.”

That means that one of the leading theories can now be dismissed. But it is still unknown what exactly is happening, and researchers hope to work to conduct further research to understand what is going on in this mysterious process.

An article describing the findings, ‘Garnet crystallization does not drive oxidation at arcs’, is published in the journal Science.

‘Some things that are illegal are moral’: Meet the UK lawyer crowdfunding climate cases

Lottie Limb
Fri, 5 May 2023 

Jolyon Maugham, British barrister known for anti-Brexit litigation


If you want a visual metaphor for the law, picture London.

“Old and new, planned and wanton, elegant and grotesque all at once. No legal system, in the common law world at least, was planned from scratch by a master builder. What we have developed haphazardly over time.”

This is how Jolyon Maugham KC describes it in his new book Bringing Down Goliath, which charts the origins and ongoing battles of the Good Law Project (GLP). He founded the campaign organisation in 2017 and through crowdfunding appeals, the non-profit has brought cases on a range of issues - from Brexit to sewage pollution, trans rights to pandemic PPE contracts.


The law is both a weapon and battleground for the GLP. In arguing that the law can be a force for good, it patrols the fracture lines between what is right and what is legal.

“Some things which are illegal - noisily protesting at the destruction of the planet outside the offices of Big Oil - are moral,” writes Maugham, while some immoral things are legal. There’s nothing new about this predicament. Though, arguably, ‘wrong’ climate-related laws present a more total existential threat.

But Maugham’s next step - signing a ‘declaration of conscience’ alongside more than 120 other British lawyers - has proved deeply controversial.

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What is the UK lawyers’ ‘declaration of conscience’?

In March, the signatories vowed not to act for new fossil fuel projects or to prosecute peaceful climate protesters.

It breaks the profession's “cab rank” rule, which says that a barrister must take a case they are qualified for, provided they are available to do so, in the interests of fair representation.

“I think that laws that encourage the destruction of the planet, and punish those who protest against them, are laws that are wrong,” Maugham tells Euronews Green.

Critics say the declaration unfairly demonises barristers doing their job and is an empty gesture from lawyers (like Maugham, a tax specialist) who aren’t asked to prosecute climate activists. Some view GLP in this vein too; as a kind of political meddling with the best system we’ve got.

Dubious passengers whizzing around in black cabs are, like it or not, part of the law’s cityscape. There’s no role for a master re-builder to change the whole system, but how can we make the streets greener and the air cleaner to breathe?

How can the law better protect the environment?

Wild swimmer Lindsey Cole swam 50 miles of the River Avon in a mermaid costume, towing a giant poo sculpture to highlight the UK's river pollution problem in 2021. - Charlotte Sawyer/REUTERS

“If you are wanting to construct a legal system that is supportive of the environment, there are a whole spectrum of ways in which you might rethink what the law does and how it stands in respect of the environment,” Maugham says.

The GLP depends on public outrage to fund its litigation, and few environmental causes have appalled the British public like the pollution of waterways with sewage.

Raw sewage was discharged into English rivers 825 times a day last year, according to Environment Agency data. With the regulator seemingly unable to keep private water companies in check, what can the law do?

To find out, GLP is supporting the Marine Conservation Society, family-run business Richard Haward’s Oysters and surfer-activist Hugo Tagholm in bringing a case against the Environment Secretary. They claim that the government’s ‘Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan’ is unlawful as it gives water company bosses until 2050 to stop the mass discharges of sewage.

This kind of challenge to a decision from a government or other public body is known as ‘judicial review’ - and it’s the main avenue GLP uses. More unusually, the co-claimants have resurrected an ancient common law as one of their grounds for bringing the case.

The Public Trust Doctrine says that the foreshore and coastal waters are assets held ‘in trust’ for the public, to safeguard their rights to fish, gather food - and (the claimants argue) enjoy.

The High Court has set a hearing date for early July, and Maugham believes the case will have “very profound impacts” if it succeeds.

Shell’s board of directors sued over ‘flawed’ climate strategy in first-of-its-kind lawsuit
Should rivers have rights?

Maugham grew up in New Zealand, a country envied for its beautiful blue rivers and lakes.

“But in fact, many of New Zealand’s waterways are now destroyed, devastated by huge increases in dairy production and the agricultural runoff that generates,” he explains. “All of the rivers that I swam in as a kid are now unswimmable.”

It’s a universal “plague”, and one the GLP is currently helping fight on the banks of the River Dore in Herefordshire, where the council has approved a farm’s ‘giant’ new livestock shed.

Anxious that more manure will inflict ecological damage on this tributary of the Wye, campaigners are trying to get the decision overturned in the UK’s Supreme Court.

GLP’s third ‘clean waters’ case made it all the way to the UK's final court of appeal in March. It concerns sewage discharges by the United Utilities water company into the Manchester Ship Canal. The judges will decide whether the firm can be subject to private legal action over these discharges, in this case from the canal’s owner.

Maugham is “optimistic about the outcome” - and the potential for water companies to be sued in new ways if the case is successful

In New Zealand, the Whanganui River became recognised as a legal person in 2017, under a settlement act that adopted Maori ways of thinking about it as a living whole.

 - Brett Phibbs/AP

A more ambitious bit of legal landscaping, he explains, would be extending the concept of legal personhood to nature. “Does a river have a value irrespective of its use as a resource for human beings that the law ought to protect?” asks Maugham.

“Does an animal species have that value? Does a national park? Looking at these questions purely through the lens of their utility to humanity is inhibiting and not always productive of ecologically-sensible policymaking.”

The reason why a river having ‘standing’ (sufficient interest to bring a case) is the right result is because treating the environment as a resource for humans leaves ecosystems unprotected, he says. An upstream polluter can pay off someone with an economic interest downstream, but this exchange does nothing to preserve the river.

Though the ‘rights for nature’ movement is relatively new in the UK, Maugham points to the idea of companies as legal persons.

“If we can do it for companies, why can we not do it for parks or mountains or rivers? Or snow leopards?”

Campaigners want the North Sea to be given legal rights. How would it work?

Ecocide campaigners call for environmental damage to be treated like war crimes

What environmental cases has the Good Law Project won?

Another model for defending nature might be a bill of rights for the environment. In the same way as human rights are enshrined by the UK’s Human Rights Act - a touchstone for judges - this could provide an overarching code against which environmental damage is assessed.

Pending new legislation like this, change is more piecemeal. And it depends on political winds.

After former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s landslide victory in 2019, Maugham describes how GLP turned from the political to the environmental space. Alongside journalist George Monbiot and Ecotricity founder Dale Vince, they landed on challenging a government planning policy which favoured fossil fuel over renewable energy infrastructure.

Victory was claimed in 2020, when the government agreed to review the policy, publishing an improved Energy National Policy Statement the following year.

In 2022, together with ClientEarth and Friends of the Earth, GLP scored a big win when the High Court ruled that the government’s net zero strategy was unlawful. Since the revised plan is also “disappointing”, the trio are considering further legal action.

But the window for judicial review is narrowing, Maugham argues in Bringing Down Goliath.

Could Ireland hold a referendum on giving nature the same rights as people?

Is crowdfunding litigation a good route for climate action?

About one in 25 judicial reviews launched in the years up to 2020 succeeded in court, he writes.

“In 2021, after a period of sustained attack on what was asserted by right-wing think tanks to be overreach by judges, the equivalent figure slumped to one in fifty.”

The net-zero case last July was the last time that he can remember GLP being found to have standing. In August, then PM-hopeful Rishi Sunak announced that he would take on “lawfare” to stop politically motivated cases.

So is there still space for this kind of legal campaigning? “There is still room,” Maugham maintains, “you just have to accept that it is much more difficult.”

Sometimes GLP brings cases it estimates have a less than 50/50 chance of success because they raise important issues and expose where the law is wrong.

“It’s not difficult to only pick winning cases,” argues Maugham, “but what you sacrifice is impact.”

On its own scorecard, GLP chalks up 44 per cent wins, 35 per cent losses, and 21 per cent mixed results.

“We do try to signal in our language something about what the prospects of succeeding are,” he adds. “Sometimes our language is more bullish and sometimes our language is less bullish.”

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A platform for legal advice and crowdsourcing experience

In the book’s last chapter - aptly named ‘Slingshots’ - Maugham reveals that GLP is looking at creating a platform for sharing legal advice which can be used for multiple actions.

For example, holding the more than 300 local authorities which have declared a climate emergency to account.

“There is a really attractive opportunity to share legal resources cascaded down from the top and enable peer-to-peer support so as to enable those communities to bring litigation themselves,” he tells Euronews Green.

“One of the problems that we face when confronted by the scale and extent of environmental destruction is a sense of hopelessness.

“And I think the antidote to that actually is in giving people means by which they can respond, by which they can come to feel hope, by which they can recover agency over what has been done to their communities.”

Shell looks to sell off its stake in controversial Cambo oilfield

Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent
Fri, 5 May 2023

Photograph: Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty Images

Shell is hoping to find a buyer for its stake in a controversial oilfield off the Shetland islands that became a key focus for the UK’s anti-fossil fuel campaigners.

The oil company still holds a 30% stake in the Cambo oilfield more than a year after it cast the project’s future in doubt by pulling the plug on its investment, blaming a weak economic case and the risk of delay.

The plans to develop Cambo, which is the second-largest undeveloped oil and gas discovery in the North Sea, ignited fierce protest from climate campaigners and the threat of a legal challenge if ministers allowed new drilling to go ahead.

Related: Does the UK really need to drill for more North Sea oil and gas?

Simon Roddy, who leads Shell’s upstream business in the UK, said it had reviewed the project and struck a deal with Cambo’s majority owner, Ithaca Energy, to sell off its stake.

“We wish Ithaca Energy well in the future development of the field, which will be important to maintain the UK’s energy security and to sustaining domestic production of the fuels that people and businesses need,” Roddy said.

Shell wants to sell off the full 30% stake to a new buyer, with the option of selling on a smaller stake and the balance of its working interest sold to Ithaca Energy. If Shell finds a buyer who wants more than 30%, then Ithaca could add a further 19.99% of its own interest to create a working interest of almost 50%.

Alan Bruce, the Ithaca CEO, said the Shell agreement was a meaningful step towards developing the Cambo field, which could be “a key asset in helping maintain the UK’s future energy security”.

Shell announced in late 2021 it would pull out of any future investment in Cambo in what many climate campaigners had believed would deal a “deathblow” to the project.

The oilfield’s prospects were revived last year when Ithaca Energy became the majority owner after paying about $1.5bn (£1.2bn) to buy private-equity backed Siccar Point Energy, the operator of the field.

The company will now need to persuade the government to give Cambo the green light despite a growing backlash against fossil fuel developments. It is also pushing the government to reform its North Sea windfall tax, which had created “fiscal instability” that threatens its ability to invest, Bruce said.

Cambo could produce about 170m barrels of oil equivalent during its 25-year operational life at half the carbon intensity of the average barrel of North Sea oil, according to Ithaca. It has also promised there would be no gas flaring at Cambo, and that its rigs would be powered by electricity, rather than gas or diesel.

Shell looks for buyer for stake in controversial Cambo oil field

August Graham, PA Business Reporter
Fri, 5 May 2023 

Shell is looking to sell its stake in the controversial Cambo oil field, its partner Ithaca Energy has said.

The oil major is looking for a buyer for its 30% holding in the project, which is the second-largest undeveloped oil and gas discovery in the UK’s North Sea.

Cambo has been the focal point of many protests, and Shell has been rumoured for months to be looking for someone to take over its part.

(PA Graphics)


In 2021 Shell scrapped its development plans for the project, putting its future into doubt. In August last year Reuters reported that it had hired bankers to sell the stake.

The remaining 70% of the oil field is owned by Ithaca Energy.

Ithaca said that the two companies had agreed on several possible outcomes. Shell might sell all of its stake, but if it only manages to find a buyer for a portion of the stake, it can offload its remaining share to Ithaca.

If a buyer wants to purchase more than Shell’s 30% stake then Ithaca will sell up to 19.99% of its holding in the project, it said.

“Following an internal review, we have decided to sell our 30% working interest in Cambo and have agreed a process with Ithaca Energy for the sale of Shell’s stake in the field this year,” said Shell’s senior vice president of UK Upstream, Simon Roddy.

“We wish Ithaca Energy well in the future development of the field, which will be important to maintain the UK’s energy security and to sustaining domestic production of the fuels that people and businesses need.”

Ithaca chief executive Alan Bruce said: “Our agreement with Shell represents a meaningful step towards the development of Cambo, the second-largest undeveloped field in the UK continental shelf and a key asset in helping maintain the UK’s future energy security.”

He added: “Ithaca Energy remains committed to investing in the UK North Sea, however, the impact of the amended Energy Profit Levy and the fiscal instability it has created continues to constrain our ability to invest.

“We are actively engaging, in a constructive manner, with the UK Government in pursuit of the fiscal stability required to make critical investment decisions that will support the UK’s long-term energy security.”

Czech Republic considers removing 'barbaric' trans sterilisation law, but prejudices persist

Una Hajdari
Thu, 4 May 2023


The Czech Republic is one of the few European Union countries to continue to require a sterilisation procedure before a trans person can legally change their gender.

This, despite the European Court of Human Rights officially declaring such state-imposed requirements to be a form torture.

Leaders of the country were largely undisturbed by this comment, believing that legalising registered partnerships – as well as an interrupted attempt to legalise same-sex marriage – were more important to the LGBT community.

But with more and more European countries lifting the sterilisation requirement over the years, the Czech Republic remains the westernmost EU member state to still officially demand the procedure.

A bill has now been proposed by the Ministry of Justice to change this, despite the government's strong conservative leanings. The draft still needs to be passed by both houses of parliament and be signed by the president before it can be enforced.

“As far as I was told by insiders, there is support for this change in this government,” said Lenka Králová, an activist who also hosts a YouTube program on trans issues.

The sterilisation procedure requires the total surgical removal of sexual glands as a precondition for the legal change of one’s sex in personal documents.

Králová said that lawmakers are unlikely to have proposed this bill if it had not been “discussed first with the government’s coalition partners.”

‘Sexual activity is not our main motivation’

However, for her, the possible legal change will not change the biggest misconception about trans people in the Czech Republic – that they are “spurred by sexual desires," rather than wanting to transition because they feel inadequacy in the gender they were assigned at birth.

“In my opinion this goes down to a historical misunderstanding, that gender dysphoria is mainly motivated by sexual desires,” she tells Euronews.

Transgender people are widely misunderstood throughout the world, with even some allies of the lesbian and gay communities opposing more trans rights. The far-right has often portrayed the community as pedophiles or oddities who should be banned from most social activities.

“Traditional Czech views presented trans people as those who desire the surgical modification of their genitalia. Being trans on the other hand is all about life and sex is just one part of it,” says Králová.

While surgery is important for some, others would forego it entirely. “We are such a marginalised minority that up to recently our human rights were not an issue for politicians. Now that there are only a few countries in Europe that still require sterilisation, it gained their interest,” she explains.

In the Czech Republic you have to go to a sexologist if you want to start transitioning.

Kryštof Stupka, an activist and member of the government’s LGBTQ+ committee, says sexologists have existed in the country for decades and are “a combination of a doctor and a psychiatrist, but more generally they are a group of traditionally-minded people who believe sexuality has to be regulated.”

“And they played a key role in the process until now,” he continues, saying that while sterilisation has often been a requirement in the past “it began being reinforced in the new civil code in 2014.”

So when most countries in Europe began dropping the sterilisation rule, the Czech Republic rewrote their legal code to include more limitations on legal gender reassignment.

Thousands gathered in support of the LGBTQ community in Prague after two Slovak men were shot dead in Bratislava. 26 October 2022 - Petr David Josek/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved

‘They do not want trans people to reproduce’

THE PURPOSE OF STERILIZATION LAWS FOR THE MENTALLY CHALLENGED

Stupka explains that “most people in the Czech Republic assume that transitioning is getting plastic surgery to remove your penis or vagina. When in fact, what the sexologists care about is making sure you can’t reproduce.”

Once they are sure, as the law states, that you are “disabled from reproducing, once your body is destroyed, then you can have your papers,” he tells Euronews.

An average Czech citizen is required to show their ID regularly when they go about their daily lives – from buying alcohol to renting a car, to going skiing or signing a contract.

“You will be revealing your gender identity to people all the time, exposing yourself to their reactions or even harm,” exclaims Stupka.

Continuous hurdles

In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the landmark Garçon v France case that “forced and permanent sterilisation” violated the inalienable right to self-determination, and that the requirement by the state to undergo these procedures is a violation of Article 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which protects the sanctity of private life.

Following the Garçon case, The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) and Transgender Europe (TGEU) launched a complaint against the Czech Republic at the European Committee of Social Rights. The body found that the Czech Republic was in violation of the European Social Charter.

A bill was launched at the time to reverse the requirement – much like the one currently being discussed – but got shot down due to a technical issue, namely, the inability of the Czech citizens registry to process or implement this change.

“So the Minister of Internal Affairs at the time blocked it with an idiotic argument that the matrix within which we keep all the records of Czech citizens would not be able to process the legal gender change,” explains Stupka.

Czech Republic's Prime Minister Andrej Babis smiles at a ceremony in Prague. 21 August 2018

 - Petr David Josek/Copyright 2018 The AP. All rights reserved

The previous Czech government was led until 2021 by the ANO or YES movement led by controversial media owner and populist oligarch Andrej Babiš.

“When Babis was elected he was initially pro-equal marriage, but then he turned into a Czech version of [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán,” Stupka explains.

While many welcomed Babiš being replaced by PM Petr Fiala and the center-right Spolu coalition, Stupka says there is even less support for LGBT+ issues and trans issues in particular in the new legislature, and that there is a lack of consistency from several consecutive governments.

The Czech Republic is widely considered one of the more progressive Central European countries, and its politicians and intellectuals played a leading role in the pro-democracy revolutions that led to the fall of communism.

This is why the sterilisation requirement sticks out like a sore thumb.

It is unclear how the trans bill will fare in parliament, but based on support for marriage equality Stupka believes that only “about 40 of them would support same sex marriage, while around 80 supported in the last parliament" of the 200 deputies of the lower house of parliament.

“But now that people finally see it as a gross human rights violation, maybe it the bill can pass and things will actually change,” he concludes.

Child marriage in decline – but will take 300 years to eliminate

13 U$ STATES ALLOW IT

Haroon Janjua in Islamabad
Thu, 4 May 2023 

Photograph: Ami Vitale/Alamy

The number of child marriages is declining worldwide, but at too slow a pace for any hope of eliminating the practice this century, Unicef, the UN children’s agency, has said.

In a new report, Unicef tentatively welcomed the reduction but warned that it was nowhere close to meeting its sustainable development goal of ridding the world of the practice by 2030.

“The good news is that child marriage has been declining all over the world,” said Claudia Cappa, the lead author of the report. “In the last 10 years, the percentage of child marriages has dropped from 23% to 19% [of all marriages]. However, this isn’t fast enough to achieve the goal of eliminating child marriage by 2030, with more than 12 million girls under 18 still getting married every year. So, if things don’t change, we’ll need around 300 more years to eliminate child marriage completely.”

The UN estimates that 640 million girls and women who are alive today married before they were 18, and that 12 million girls become new child brides each year.

“Child marriage has different causes in different places, but there are often commonalities linked to poverty and limited opportunities for girls,” said Cappa. “Gender inequality, stereotypes, weak laws and the fear of pregnancy outside of marriage also contribute.”

The report warned that the climate crisis could leave families with few options but to marry off their children. “Health crises, conflict and natural disasters increase the risk to girls as they interrupt their education and add financial stress to households,” said Cappa. “Some families in these difficult situations falsely view [marriage] as a way to protect their girls financially, socially and physically. While we can’t always predict these crises, we can look back to understand how they might affect girls.

Related: Ethiopian drought leading to ‘dramatic’ increase in child marriage, Unicef warns

Declining rates of child marriage in south Asia, home to 45% of the world’s underage brides, underpinned the overall trend. India in particular is making progress in reducing child marriage. But in sub-Saharan Africa, one in three girls are marrying before the age of 18. Child marriage rates are highest in west and central Africa, home to seven out of the 10 countries with the highest prevalence globally.

“Despite some progress over 25 years, it only benefited the wealthiest, as child marriage increased among the poorest,” said Cappa. “[Sub-Saharan Africa] also faces a particular challenge: in addition to conflict, climate shocks and Covid, it’s seeing its population grow faster than anywhere else in the world, outpacing its progress to end child marriage.”

Child marriage and having sex too young causes myriad health problems and carries increased risks of death during childbirth and serious complications in pregnancy.

“But we know progress is possible in Africa, and the report lists Rwanda and Ethiopia as examples. Ending child marriage is possible with income and economic interventions,” said Cappa.

Bhutan has secretly mined Bitcoin in the Himalayas for years - and it did it sustainably

Giulia Carbonaro
Fri, 5 May 2023


Bhutan, a South Asian kingdom nested in the Himalayan mountains, has recently revealed a secret that stunned the international financial market: the country has been quietly mining crypto for years without telling a soul - including its own citizens.

An even more stunning revelation was that the country has been able to mine crypto in a sustainable way compared to more commonly used methods which have been widely criticised for the large amounts of electricity required.

Bhutan has been able to mine for tokens using its massive stores of hydroelectricity - a renewable source of energy that can be largely considered to be “green”.

Amid Europe’s energy crisis, this Dutch tulip farmer is swapping gas for heat from Bitcoin mining

Bhutan has an abundance of hydroelectricity - a form of renewable energy that uses the power of moving water to generate electricity - thanks to the ancient glaciers feeding the many rivers flowing through the country.

Energy generated by hydroelectricity is currently fuelling the homes of most of the country’s 777,000-strong population, and it represents 30 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

But Bhutan’s recently revealed secret shows that the country has also been putting this immense resource to work for another purpose that could boost and sustain its economy in the future: the creation of its own crypto mines.

Bhutan is not alone in betting on cryptocurrencies for its future. The Central American state of El Salvador is currently the only country in the world to run state-owned crypto mines.

With its small size and limited resources, green crypto mining could be the solution to Bhutan’s economic independence, a country that has struggled for years to establish its self-sufficiency.

Bhutan has the advantage of its resources and environment making the country an ideal space for digital asset mining operations.

Hydroelectricity is cheap, and the country’s mountains, being so tall, provide the perfect environment to cool down heated-producing computers that are busy mining for Bitcoin. The country’s crypto mines could, at least on paper, have little to no carbon footprint at all.

The UK is planning 'robust' new cryptocurrency regulations after the FTX exchange collapse

Why was this a secret - and why has it now been revealed?

The South Asian kingdom has reportedly been mining “for years,” though it’s not exactly clear for how long, where, or what earnings did it make.

Speaking to a local newspaper The Bhutanese, a government representative recently said that the country has begun mining “a few years ago as one of the early entrants when the price of Bitcoin was around $5,000 (€4.548)”.

The price of Bitcoin has since soared to $29,228.12 (€26.591,74) as of Friday.

The reason why the country has shared its secret crypto-mining operations might be linked to the fact that the kingdom is now looking for partners to further expand its project.

The country’s investment arm, state-owned holding company Druk Holding & Investments (DHI), and Nasdaq-listed mining company Bitdeer are reportedly seeking investors for $500 million (€454.9 million) to be used to develop green crypto mining in the kingdom.

Fundraising to create Bhutan’s carbon-free digital mining will begin at the end of May, as reported by Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, Bhutan’s larger neighbours - India and China - remain wary of crypto.

Both India’s government and central bank have taken a strong stance against it, while China officially banned crypto trading in 2021.

Gender gaps have narrowed. But it isn’t over until equal pay is the norm

Ritu Mohanka, Managing Director, EMEA, Syndio
Fri, 5 May 2023 


The gender pay gap has been a hot topic for far too long, with both companies and governments feeling the pressure to enforce plans to address disparities in pay.

With change looking imminent, the latest figures show that the gender pay gap has narrowed from 11% in 2018 to 10.1% in 2023.

Many campaigners celebrate this progress as an indication that positive change is finally materialising with tangible figures to back it up.

Equal Pay Day: EU women now working 'for free' until end of the year

Equal Pay Day: How bad is the gender pay gap in your country?

Despite this optimism, a new PwC report has found that an 18-year-old woman entering the workforce today may still not see pay equality throughout her employment, suggesting that, in fact, there is still a lot of work to be done.

Are employers taking their foot off the gas? Potentially.

We should talk about the Confidence Gap

Recent campaigning for pay and opportunity equity has focused a lot on structural barriers such as childcare costs, which, while a significant part of the problem, does create a risk that individual employers are starting to perceive the cause of the pay gap as something external and "out of their hands".

This is wherein the problem lies. Yes, gender pay gaps have marginally narrowed, but pay equity has still not been achieved, and there is a lot employers can and need to do.

A less addressed equity issue can be recognised in the Confidence Gap. This refers to a disparity in salary resulting from the differing confidence levels of male and female employees — an issue which lies firmly in employers' spheres of influence.

The survey found that 69% of women feel anxiety or worry around negotiating pay, while nearly half of all men feel confident about it.

A woman walks up the decorated stairs of the Commerzbank in Frankfurt, March 2023 - AP Photo/Michael Probst

New UK data released by Syndio found that employers are not doing enough to address the Confidence Gap and the role it plays in hindering pay equity.

The survey found that 69% of women feel anxiety or worry around negotiating pay, while nearly half of all men feel confident about it, with 16% of those men even seeing it as a positive boost to their self-perception.

The top feelings for women when negotiating salary are a fear of being rejected (25%), lack of confidence (23%), and concern about being seen as "pushy" and risk damaging their career (21%).
Highest levels show significant disparities, too

The gender pay gap is largely caused by disparities at organisations' highest levels and a lack of visibility for women in senior leadership teams.

Men with higher incomes (those earning more than the UK average of £33,000) are more likely to be aware of their market value and to be prepared to negotiate.

Meanwhile, women with higher incomes continue to follow the general trend of being overly concerned about negotiations.

Ultimately, higher earners are more likely to demand and receive more.

A girl holds up a sign for equal pay for the US women football players in West Hartford, CT, April 2016 - Jessica Hill/AP

Ultimately, higher earners are more likely to demand and receive more.

When female employees are worried about navigating discussions about their salary within the workplace, it can lead to a range of negative outcomes, including reduced job satisfaction, resentment, lack of recognition and burnout.

In turn, this detrimentally affects an organisation's performance and ability to retain talent.

Transparency helps, but it isn’t a silver bullet

We know that pay transparency can help reduce pay disparities by making it easier for employers to compare their salaries.

It also promotes fairness and equity by creating a culture of openness and trust within an organisation.

But while transparent companies will tend to be seen as making progress in closing the gender pay gap, the Confidence Gap will ensure the problem persists.

Simply rewarding men for being more confident in the workplace is inexcusable.

Slovenia's Irena Joveva, center, has her baby on her kneels as European Parliament members vote to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay, April 2022 - AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias

Women are proven to be more likely to value themselves lower when entering the workplace, and the confidence gap prohibits them from reaching for the top of salary pay bandings and merited promotions that reflect the value they contribute to the workplace.

Simply rewarding men for being more confident in the workplace is inexcusable.

Businesses need to be accountable for addressing imbalances, looking at workplace equity more holistically and providing employees with the tools and opportunities to achieve their full value and potential.

How should we address pay imbalance?

For employers, alleviating the worries and stresses of employees means proving that fair pay and opportunities for all are embedded within the business — and shouting about it.

A system which leverages real-time company data is highly effective at any stage of your pay equity journey.

It’s time to pay the sisters the same as the misters!

Women won't get equal pay for 257 years, new report says

You don’t need a polished data set, and simply starting to understand where gaps exist in how you pay and promote employees is worthwhile.

A dancer performs to demand equal pay and gender pay transparency in front of the EU headquarters in Brussels in February 2020 - KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP

A data-based approach also offers employees tangible evidence, beyond words, that demonstrates that they are valued and treated fairly, and that their employer is acting seriously.

_Ritu Mohanka is the Managing Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Syndio, a workplace equity platform.
_

At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at view@euronews.com to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation.

EQUAL PAY PLUS

Thai parties in financial bidding war as election heats up

Montira Rungjirajittranon and Alexis Hontang
Thu, 4 May 2023

With polls less than two weeks away, Thailand's political parties are promising to help low-income families struggling in the face of soaring prices

In the searing hot sun, Preeya Phunatung toils long hours on a rural Thai construction site to support her family of four.

It is a struggle for Preeya to buy even staples such as rice, fish sauce and cooking oil because her $9-a-day income is not keeping pace with inflation.

Thailand goes to the polls on May 14 with major parties promising to ease poverty as low-income households struggle for survival in the face of soaring prices and deep-seated inequality.

But analysts warn that the populist policies being bandied about will do little to address structural problems that have left Thai economic growth lagging behind its Southeast Asian neighbours.

"I live from hand to mouth," Preeya told AFP at her small house in the eastern province of Sa Kaeo, where the number of people living below the poverty line jumped by almost 25 percent between 2020 and 2021, according to official data.

"Life after the pandemic is very hard."

Thailand has nearly 30 billionaires, according to Forbes magazine, but it also has one of the highest rates of income inequality in East Asia and the Pacific.

In the wake of the 2014 military coup that brought current Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha to power, momentum in reducing poverty that had built up since the 1990s was lost.

The Covid-19 pandemic deepened the stagnation and the kingdom has struggled to bounce back.

Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia apart from coup-hit Myanmar where GDP has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels, according to the World Bank.

- 'Suffered enough' -

As the election campaign enters the home straight, parties across the political spectrum are locked in a bidding war to attract the country's millions of low-income voters -- pledging higher wages, pension increases and debt relief.

The main opposition Pheu Thai party has promised a $300 handout to every Thai over 16 to stimulate the economy.

Srettha Thavisin, a wealthy former real estate mogul and one of Pheu Thai's candidates for prime minister, insists the $16 billion policy can be paid for without tax increases.

Pheu Thai, linked to the ultra-rich Shinawatra family whose patriarch Thaksin won two elections on a raft of populist economic pledges, is leading in the polls.

The party also wants to boost the minimum daily wage from $10 to $17 by 2027, while Move Forward -- the second-biggest opposition party -- has pledged to increase it to $13 a day immediately, with further hikes each year based on inflation.

The embattled incumbent Prayut has warned voters not to fall for populist promises -- though his party has pledged to treble the value of social welfare cards he introduced in 2017.

"We have suffered enough from the negative consequences of election campaigns full of promises," the ex-army chief said on a campaign stop in Bangkok.

But many point the finger at Prayut for the economic malaise.

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, an auto parts tycoon and figurehead of the Move Forward party, said the military-backed government had not done enough to help small businesses thrive.

Thailand's economy has long been dominated by well-connected family conglomerates that leverage political connections to boost their businesses.

"We need to eradicate monopolies. We need a more open market society," Thanathorn said at a recent rally in Bangkok emphasising the importance of market competition.

- Jobs not handouts -

Inequality has been a recurring theme in Thai politics since Thaksin burst onto the scene in the wake of the Asian financial crisis over two decades ago, said Pasuk Phongpaichit, an economics professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

But now, more than untargeted handouts, the economy requires spending on those who need it and better education to increase earning potential, said Kiatipong Ariyapruchya, World Bank senior country economist for Thailand.

"There are a lot of structural obstacles in the country that, if they were removed, could help people get better jobs and increase their pay," he said.

"Education is important to get the right skills but also to make the services sector more competitive."

And after years of flashy promises, sustainable economic development is appealing to some voters.

Srima Sripibal, 52, earns $13 a day as a security guard in a posh Bangkok neighbourhood.

Struggling to pay for his grandchildren's education and borrowing money to get by each month, he wants long-term solutions.

"If they give us money, we spend it and it's gone," he said. "A good job is more sustainable."

ah-tak-tp/pdw/axn/cwl

UK
Local elections 2023: A 'hammering' for the Tories, but Labour majority at general election by no means certain

Sky News
Fri, 5 May 2023


The Conservatives have lost a third of their council seats so far - a hammering by any standard.

If that trend continues, the party is likely to post a final tally that rivals the debacle of 1995 that left them limping towards a massacre at the general election two years later.

These results are terrible for the Conservatives, but does that mean that Sir Keir Starmer is about to do a Tony Blair? There is clear evidence in places like Plymouth and Stoke-on-Trent where the party has put its recent troubles behind it and taken council control.

Gaining Medway for the first time, a council that Labour could not win in 1997, is a notable coup for the party and one which it will rightly publicise. It will also celebrate the rise in vote share in Rushmoor, where it even surpassed the 1995 figure. This is all evidence of Labour passing the test it's been set.

Follow the local election results and reaction live

But there are other results, Hartlepool, Lincoln, Tamworth and elsewhere, where Labour's progress falls short of a general election-winning performance. Even where it has done well, like Plymouth, the increase in vote share, though large, is not large enough for an overall majority at the next general election.

This last sentence might be read by Labour supporters with incredulity. But the electoral arithmetic that lies behind the next parliamentary election is that the national swing from the Conservatives required for a Labour victory is greater than the party achieved in its 1997 landslide. This is because Labour posted one of its worst-ever general election performances in December 2019, and its recovery from that must be spectacular.

The tally of seat gains and losses shows that Conservative misery has been inflicted by Labour in some areas, but elsewhere the Liberal Democrats have made headlines in West Lindsey and Windsor and Maidenhead. As more results are declared later today, especially across parts of southern England, Lib Dems gains will increase.

Sharing the limelight is not ideal for Labour, particularly because it raises an awkward question. If Labour has done enough on this showing to overtake the Conservatives as the largest party in a hung parliament will it form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats?

UK businesses face delays of up to 15 years for solar installations

Helena Horton
Fri, 5 May 2023 


Businesses in the UK are facing waits of up to 15 years for solar installations on their homes due to a lack of grid connectivity, MPs have found.

The environmental audit committee, which looks at green policies in government, has said there is a “dark cloud of delays” hindering the country from reaching its potential when it comes to renewable energy.

An inquiry by the MPs into solar energy has found that the government’s ambition to install 70GW of solar by 2035 may not happen if these delays continue. It found that in some cases, customers were having to wait 10 to 15 years to secure a connection for solar installations.

MPs said there were three key areas where the current approach on grid connection was delaying progress: a lack of physical infrastructure such as cables and transformers; poor availability of data on solar photovoltaic generation, particularly for small-scale installations; and a “queueing system” of applications where developers are applying for grid connections without the project having planning permission.

Though the committee said solar energy did not need subsidies due to how cheap it was to generate, it did find that the costs of installation could be prohibitive.

MPs recommended the government should consider consulting on how it could facilitate affordable loans for households, and to give a VAT discount to household battery storage.

The committee is launching another inquiry into the lack of connectivity in the UK, looking at barriers hindering low-carbon technologies from connecting to the grid. It will also consider the potential for a smarter and more flexible grid that enables dynamic demand management and peer-to-peer electricity trading and storing.

The chair of the committee, Philip Dunne, said the delays could stop the UK from reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

He said: “There is potential for solar energy to have a bright future in the UK, but a dark cloud of delays for the industry hinders the ability to meet its full potential. Evidence to our committee made clear that the UK has the potential to fulfil the UK’s ambition of 70GW of generating capacity from solar. But sticking points for households around access to finance and VAT being slapped on batteries remain.

“The ability for low-carbon energy sources, including solar, to be able to connect to the grid could seriously jeopardise net zero Britain. Our solar inquiry found that some developers wait up to 15 years for a grid connection: this simply isn’t good enough. We must make sure that concerns around infrastructure and planning are addressed swiftly.

“Given our committee’s mounting concerns over grid connections for low-carbon energy projects, we are today launching a new inquiry that will consider this in greater detail. I encourage anyone with views on these issues to submit evidence.”

UK STUDY APPLIES EVERYWHERE
Ministers missed chances to prepare social care for a pandemic, review finds


Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent
Thu, 4 May 2023 

Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Distress and heartbreak for millions could have been avoided if the government had not missed opportunities to prepare social care for a pandemic, according to a big investigation into how the first wave of Covid hit care homes.

A review of events in spring 2020, when almost 20,000 care home residents died with Covid in England and Wales, found it was the result of “letting one of our most important public services languish in constant crisis for years”.

A two-year study by the Nuffield Trust health thinktank and the London School of Economics found successive governments failed to respond to risks already exposed by cross-government pandemic planning exercises, didn’t have enough civil servants working on social care, and failed to appreciate the sector’s fragility when sending patients into ill-prepared care homes.

The study is the latest independent assessment to undermine the claim by the former health secretary, Matt Hancock, to have thrown “a protective ring around social care”. It comes before the Covid-19 public inquiry’s investigation into the care sector, the timing of which has yet to be announced.

Related: Minister rejects claim Matt Hancock ignored advice on Covid testing

One social care representative told the study about a meeting hosted by the then prime minister Boris Johnson and Hancock in February 2020 at which “[we] … could not get air time for social care’s issues” unless it was about the NHS’s requirements.

Natasha Curry, deputy director of policy at the Nuffield Trust, said: “Those early months exposed … weaknesses within social care that impacted the shape, speed and effectiveness of the response. Many of these difficult challenges could have been eased had warnings been heeded. Governments of all hues have failed to make social care and those who need it a priority.”

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group said the report showed “our loved ones might still be with us if care homes had been properly prepared for and protected during the pandemic”.

The study found:

The government excluded social care from pandemic-planning exercises such as Exercise Alice and after problems were identified by Exercise Cygnus, which did include the sector, action was not taken.


Social care leaders felt invisible at the start of the pandemic because there had been no dedicated director general for social care in government since 2016.


No adult social care representatives sat on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) and people leading the UK pandemic response lacked “deep understanding” of social care.

“Had the sector had the tools it needed then some of the confusion and delays that led to so much distress and heartbreak that millions of people faced could have been avoided,” said Curry. “Despite the pain endured during the pandemic, we now have the ominous sight of reforms being yet again delayed.”

The analysis was part-funded by the UK government, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research. No officials at the Department of Health and Social Care agreed to be interviewed.

“The social care sector was underresourced for years and … my mum, who had worked her whole life, needed help but was left with a system woefully unprepared to protect her,” said Deborah Doyle, a spokesperson for the Covid bereaved families group whose mother, Sylvia Griffiths, died in a care home in April 2020. “We cannot allow horrific scenes like this to happen again, and we don’t have time to wait.”

Adelina Comas-Herrera, an academic at the LSE and a report co-author, said: “The evidence suggests that some countries were able to cope better than others. We are seeing how countries such as Ireland, Finland and Spain are using lessons from the pandemic to reform their care systems. Our research shows that social care in England needs a system-wide reform.”

The care minister, Helen Whately said: “During the pandemic we supported social care with £2.9bn in specific Covid funding, sent out more than 230m Covid tests to care homes and prioritised social care for Covid vaccinations. We are committed to learning lessons from the pandemic and are investing up to £7.5bn over the next two years to put social care on a stronger financial footing, help reduce waiting lists and alleviate workforce pressures.”